
Class l 

Book 

GopjghtN?- 







0OPXR1GHT DEPOSIT. 



A HISTORY OF 
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




(The different scales that are used should 
Map reproduced from Roscoe L. Ashley's " The 




be noted with particular care.) 

New Civics," published by the Macmillan Company. 



A History of 
the Pacific Northwest 



BY 

JOSEPH SCHAFER, Ph.D. 

Head of the Department of History, University of Oregon; Sometime 

Fellow in History, University of Wisconsin; Joint Author 

of Strong and Schafer's "Government of the American 

People"; Author of "The Origin of the System 

of Land Grants in Aid of Education," "The 

Pacific Slope and Alaska," etc. 



REVISED AND REWRITTEN 
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1918 

AM rights reserved 



1""" o 

r 8 1 



Copyright, 1905 AND 1918, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1905. 
New edition, revised and rewritten. Published January, 1918. 



Norfooob i^ress 
Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



N 24 1918 



>CI.A481515 



PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION 

The new material accumulated during the past 
twelve years since the original publication of the His- 
tory of the Pacific Northwest has rendered necessary 
not a mere revision of that work but on many essential 
points a complete rewriting of it. This is notably 
true of the chapters dealing with the history of the 
Oregon boundary negotiation between the United 
States and Great Britain. It is true also of parts of 
the balance of the early part of the work. Moreover, 
since the movement in this comparatively new region 
is very rapid and a single decade sometimes revolu- 
tionizes conditions, it was felt to be necessary to add 
special chapters on the Progress of Agriculture, In- 
dustry and Commerce, and Social and Political 
Change. With this additional matter it would seem 
as if the story of the Pacific Northwest were in this 
book brought down to the actual present. 

The author is under great obligations to the man- 
agement of the Record Office at London, England, 
for permission to use files of papers relating to the 
Oregon Question; to the late Ambassador Whitelaw 
Reid for his courtesy in securing for him access to 
all available materials in London ; and to Lord Stan- 
more for permission to examine and use papers of 



Preface to the Revised Edition 

Lord Aberdeen. He is also under obligations to the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C, for as- 
sistance in unearthing important manuscripts con- 
tained in the archives at Washington. 



Joseph Schafer. 



University of Oregon, 

Eugene, Oregon, October 23, 1917. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface v 

CHAPTER 

I Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast . 1-14 
II Discovery of Puget Sound and Columbia 

River 15-28 

III Origin of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- 

tion 29-46 

IV Opening a Highway to the Pacific . . 47-61 
V The Fur Trade on the Columbia . . 62-78 

VI The Hudson Bay Company .... 79-87 

VII Early Phases of the Oregon Question . 88-104 

VIII Pioneers of the Pioneers 105-126 

IX The Colonizing Movement 127-141 

X The First Great Migration .... 142-156 

XI The First American Government on the 

Pacific 157-172 

XII The Oregon Boundary Settled . . . 173-185 

XIII The Territory of Oregon 186-197 

XIV The Northwest and California . . . 198-206 
XV Progress and Politics 207-218 

XVI The Inland Empire . . . . . . . 219-229 

XVII The Age of Railways 230-245 

XVIII The Progress of Agriculture .... 246-268 

XIX Industry and Commerce 269-289 

XX Social and Political Change .... 290-307 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map showing the territorial growth of the 

United States Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Sea Otter 16 

The Lewis and Clark map executed at Fort Clatsop . 60 

Astoria in 1813 60 

The mouth of the Columbia; vessel standing in between 
the capes 68 

Fort Vancouver as sketched by Lieut. Henry Warre, 

1845 82 

The Rocky Mountains as seen from the east; the ascent 

is very gradual 108 

In the Heart of the Mountains. A view of the Colum- 
bia River Gorge. Copyrighted by Sarah A. Ladd 122 

The deep-worn Oregon trail as it looked in 1900 . .154 

Jesse Applegate 166 

Modern Flouring Mill, Spokane, Washington, successor 

of one of the pioneer mills 258 

One of the fruit-growing regions of the Northwest. 

The Hood River Valley 264 

A view of the water front in Seattle, Washington . . 286 

Panoramic view of Portland, Oregon, Mount Hood in 

the distance 300 

Type buildings in one of the northwestern cities . . 306 



A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC 
NORTHWEST 

CHAPTER I 

EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 

Balboa discovers the Pacific. It is a far cry from 
the Isthmus of Panama to the capes above Bering's 
Strait; and the explorations which unveiled that long 
coast line form a thrilling chapter in the history of our 
continent. The story opens on the twenty-fifth of 
September, 15 13, when Balboa, surrounded by sixty 
Spanish companions, stood on a peak of the Darien 
Mountains and gazed with the rapture of a discoverer 
on the waters of the South Sea. It closes, practically, 
two hundred and sixty-five years later when Captain 
Cook rounded the " western extremity of all America," 
in latitude 65 ° and 46', calling the point of land Cape 
Prince of Wales. 

Claims its coasts for Spain. Balboa, at the mo- 
ment of his discovery, proclaimed that the coasts and 
islands pertaining to the South Sea belonged to Spain. 
Four days later he reached the shore at the Gulf of 
San Miguel and, thereupon, took possession in a more 
formal manner, among other things, marching into the 
surf at the head of his party. 



2 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

The search for a " strait." Such dramatic formal- 
ities rarely have much effect upon the course of his- 
tory, yet the discovery itself was a great triumph for 
the Spanish government. Since the time of Columbus, 
their navigators had been searching among the West 
Indies, and along the Atlantic Coast of South and 
Central America, in the blind hope of finding an open 
passage to the Orient. They failed because, as it was 
supposed, Nature had sown islands so thickly in this 
part of the ocean that it was very difficult, or impos- 
sible, for ships to pick their way among them. The 
numerous failures had discouraged many. But when 
Balboa reached the sea by marching overland a few 
miles from the Darien coast no one any longer doubted 
that a convenient westward route existed, if it could 
only be found. Generally, it was assumed that the 
passage would be found north of the Isthmus. Ma- 
gellan soon afterward proved that there was a way 
around South America, but it was very difficult, and 
far out of the direct course from Europe to Eastern 
Asia. The necessity still remained, therefore, to find 
" the strait," and the discovery of the Pacific, with 
other contemporaneous events, stimulated the search in 
an extraordinary manner. 

During the sixteenth century the nation most in- 
terested in the discovery of the strait joining the two 
great oceans was Spain. Portugal had been her great 
rival in the effort to find an all-water route to the 
Indies, and while Columbus was making heroic but 
fruitless efforts to break through the ocean barriers to 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast 3 

the west, Vasco da Gama had opened a way for his 
countrymen around Africa. This route the Portu- 
guese monopolized, and they were amassing wealth 
from the profits of the spice trade with the Moluccas. 
In order to share in that most lucrative branch of com- 
merce, it was absolutely necessary for Spain to com- 
plete her hopeful western waterway by the discovery 
of the indispensable strait. Now that a footing had 
been secured on the Pacific, it was determined to fol- 
low up the search from that side as well as from the 
Atlantic. 

First suggestion of an Isthmian canal. The first 
ships to sail upon the Pacific were launched by Balboa 
himself in the year 15 17. They were built on the 
Panama coast, some of the timbers for their construc- 
tion being carried across the mountains on the backs 
of Indian slaves. Aside from building the vessels, 
however, Balboa achieved very little. He coasted 
along the shore for some distance, gathered gold and 
pearls from the natives, and returned to Darien to meet 
death at the hands of political enemies. About six 
years later two other Spaniards explored northwest- 
ward from Panama as far as the Gulf of Fonseca, dis- 
covering Lake Nicaragua. This lake, it was hoped, 
with the stream flowing from it to the Atlantic, and a 
very short canal through the level ground on the west, 
might afford a practicable passage from ocean to ocean. 
Thus early (1525) was suggested the idea of the inter- 
oceanic canal. 

Spain by this time was in possession of the rich val- 



4 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ley of Mexico, where Cortez had recently overthrown 
the power of the Aztec confederacy. It was the most 
important territory of the New World yet brought 
under subjection by Europeans. The land was rich, 
its resources were varied, and the position it occupied 
between the two seas was a commanding one. 

Mexico becomes the Spanish base in North Amer- 
ica. It was natural that the colony planted in Mexico 
should become the center of new explorations. Cortez, 
ever on the lookout for opportunities of further con- 
quest, sent his military expeditions toward the west 
and soon learned of a great ocean, which he rightly 
judged to be the same as Balboa's South Sea. The 
news of this discovery made a deep impression upon 
his imagination. Military successes had already 
brought him riches and a fame which reached to all 
countries of the civilized world. But Cortez saw 
clearly in the proximity of the great ocean an oppor- 
tunity both to secure greater wealth and a more endur- 
ing renown. By exploring the Pacific he expected to 
find many islands abounding in gold and other riches. 
He hoped also to reach the Moluccas, and above all, he 
was anxious to find the strait so ardently desired by the 
king of Spain. 

Establishing a naval station on the west coast of 
Mexico, Cortez soon began sending expeditions toward 
the north. Some of his ships were lost, and large sums 
of money were expended, but no very important results 
were obtained until 1539. 1 
1 The southern end of the California peninsula was discovered 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast 5 

Explorations undertaken by Cortez. In that year 
Cortez sent out Ulloa with three ships to trace the 
Mexican coast northward. One of the three vessels 
was soon lost, but with the other two the mariner held 
his course until he approached the head of the Gulf of 
California. Tacking about he now passed along the 
shore of the peninsula to the cape which forms its 
southern extremity, which he rounded and sailed along 
the outer coast as far as Cedros Island, in latitude 28 . 
From this expedition Ulloa and his flagship never re- 
turned, although the surviving vessel reached Mexico 
in the following year. Cortez returned to Spain in 
1540, and died there seven years later. 

Alarcon's voyage. The romantic story of Coro- 
nado, familiar to all readers of American history, con- 
nects in an interesting manner with the exploration 
of the Pacific. At the time of Coronado's expedition, 
1540, Mendoza, a rival of Cortez, was viceroy of 
Mexico. In order to increase the chance of Coronado's 
success Mendoza sent a fleet under Alarcon to support 
the land expedition. Alargon reached the head of the 
Gulf as Ulloa had done before him, and, leaving his 
ships at the entrance of Colorado River, ascended the 
stream in small boats as far as its junction with the 
Gila. This proved that the land stretching toward the 
southwest was a peninsula, and not an island. The 
name California, now known to have been derived from 
a Sixteenth Century Spanish novel, was first applied to 

in 1534. It was supposed to be an island. The attempt to plant a 
colony there failed. 



6 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the country about this time. In its original use it sig- 
nified a fabulous island, situated " not far from the ter- 
restrial paradise," and inhabited by a gigantic race of 
women. 

Voyage of Cabrillo and Ferelo. In 1542 Men- 
doza sent out Cabrillo and Ferelo to explore the coast 
northward along the peninsula. The result of Ca- 
brillo's voyage was the discovery of the excellent har- 
bour which he named San Miguel but which was later 
called San Diego, and the partial exploration of the 
California coast line above San Diego possibly to the 
forty-second parallel. An outline map of the west 
coast of America from Panama to Oregon will thus 
summarize fairly the Spanish explorations during the 
thirty years following Balboa's discovery of the Pacific. 

Drake's voyage. The story of Sir Francis Drake's 
incursion into the Pacific, his capture of Spanish 
treasure ships, his landing in California and subse- 
quent circumnavigation of the globe is full of dramatic 
interest. But, despite oft repeated claims that he made 
new discoveries to the northward of 42 °, there is no 
convincing evidence to prove that he did so. It is not 
probable that he saw any part of the Oregon coast, 
although he may have sailed the high sea as far to the 
north as the forty-third parallel. 

Its influence upon Spain. Nevertheless, by show- 
ing them how insecure were their western coasts and 
how unprotected their rich trade between the Philip- 
pine Islands and Mexico Drake's voyage incited the 
Spaniards to undertake explorations having a de- 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast 7 

fensive object. The plan was to explore minutely the 
coast of Upper California, and establish forts at two 
good harbours which were to be refitting stations for 
the ships from Manila when they arrived after the 
terrible buffetings of the long voyage across the 
Pacific. Sebastian Vizcaino made the necessary ex- 
plorations in 1602-3, mapping carefully the California 
harbours of Monterey and San Diego. 

Vizcaino's voyages. The activity of Vizcaino, 
which was not followed up by the fortification of the 
California harbours, as he advised, marks the end of 
Spanish exploring activity on the coast for more than a 
century and a half. The Manila ships, as the vessels 
trading to the Philippines were called, were almost 
the only Spanish craft to approach the coast of Upper 
California during that long interval, while the tribes 
and peoples seen by Cabrillo, Drake and Vizcaino re- 
mained during the same period in their earlier condi- 
tion of unrelieved barbarism. 

Decline of Spain. Spain, meantime, entered upon 
that remarkable era of relative decline, beginning with 
the destruction of her Great Armada in 1588, which 
gave opportunity to England, France, and Holland to 
participate in the colonization of America as competi J 
tors of Spain. England, on account of her naval de- 
velopment, was enabled to outstrip all of her rivals 
and finally, at the conclusion of the French war in 
1763, to gain the whole eastern half of North America, 
all of which had once been claimed by Spain under the 
name of Florida. 



8 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Anson's voyage. These changes seriously affected 
the position of Spain on the west side of the continent. 
Indeed, her power there had already been challenged, 
for in 1 740-44 Commodore George Anson was sent by 
the British Admiralty to attack Spain in the Pacific, 
especially along the coasts of South America and in 
the Philippines. Through great misfortunes at sea, 
the program of offensive warfare could be carried out 
only partially. Yet, Anson stormed Payta, a town 
on the Peruvian coast, and captured it; he cruised off 
the Mexican coast in search of the Manila galleon, 
which went into hiding and escaped him. He after- 
ward captured one of the galleons in the Philippines, 
taking a prize valued at $1,500,000. The voyage was 
completed by sailing to China and around the Cape of 
Good Hope to England. It was believed that had the 
squadron rounded Cape Horn at the proper season, 
thus avoiding undue losses, it could easily have cap- 
tured Baldivia in Chili, terrified that kingdom and 
" awed the most distant parts of the Spanish Empire 
in America." x 

Arthur Dobbs prophesies British expansion in the 
Pacific. About the time of Anson's return from the 
Pacific, Mr. Arthur Dobbs, a public spirited English 
gentleman, issued a book 2 in which he pointed to the 
Pacific as the most promising field of British explor- 

1 Richard Walter — " Anson's Voyage," p. 280. 

2 On Hudson's Bay, London, 1744. See summary in the author's 
Acquisition of Oregon, pt. I — Discovery & Exploration. Bulle- 
tin University of Oregon. N. S. Vol. VI, No. 3, December, 1908. 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast 9 

ing and exploiting effort for many years to come. 
Great Britain, he argued, should take away the mo- 
nopoly of the Hudson Bay Company l because that 
company had refused to carry out its charter agree- 
ment to search for a northwest passage into the Pacific. 
The government should seek that passage, and having 
found it should establish naval stations in the North 
Pacific, say near California, and in the South Pacific, 
say at the Isle of Easter. From these stations as cen- 
tres, explorations should be made throughout the great 
ocean, north and south. He believed there were thou- 
sands of islands, perhaps continents, still to be found 
there and these were doubtless peopled with tribes 
waiting to be supplied with British goods. 

The Northwest Passage. Under Dobbs's stimu- 
lation a good deal was done, within the next few years, 
to find the Northwest passage, but without success. 
However, the government began at the close of the 
French war (1764) to send exploring expeditions into 
the Pacific and in the ten years following many new 
islands were brought to light by a succession of navi- 
gators — Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and especially Cook, 
the greatest discoverer of all. 

Bering's Russian Exploration. These notable ac- 
tivities of the British were matched by similar activi- 
ties of the Russians. In 1728 Vitus Bering, a Dane 
who set out some years before in the service of Peter 
the Great, sailed north from Kamchatka and settled 

x The Hudson's Bay Company received its charter from King 
Charles II in 1669. 



io A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the age old question as to whether Asia and North 
America were joined together in the north. In 1741 
Bering and Tchirikoff discovered Alaska and a num- 
ber of the islands of Bering Sea. Thereafter the 
Russians began the trade in furs which soon carried 
them from Kamchatka to the Alaska coast and thence 
southward toward California and Mexico. 

It was these two movements of the British and Rus- 
sians, which roused the Spaniards of Mexico to under- 
take new schemes of conquest, settlement, and ex- 
ploration for the sake of safeguarding their posses- 
sions if possible against the fate which had befallen 
Florida. 

Spaniards forced to become expansionists and ex- 
plorers. Their plan was, first: to plant colonies and 
build forts at San Diego and Monterey harbours, as 
Vizcaino had recommended in 1603. Second, the en- 
tire region of Upper California was to be brought 
under Spanish rule. Third, they were to undertake 
explorations by sea, to the vicinity of the Russian set- 
tlements in order to fix the Spanish claim more firmly 
upon the northwest coast of America. In connection 
with the plan of conquest it was decided to establish a 
number of missions, similar to those already existing 
in the Peninsula, for the purpose of Christianizing the 
Indians. Father Junipero Serra, a devout Franciscan 
friar, was in charge of the missionary branch of the 
movement. 

California missions planted. The first of the 
series of missions was founded by Father Serra at San 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast II 

Diego July 16, 1769, and a fort or presidio was built 
near it. Thus the process of the missionary and mili- 
tary occupation was begun. Monterey was occupied 
the next year and that place became the capital of 
Upper California. Other missions and presidios were 
founded from time to time. 

Explorations of Perez, 1774. The first exploring 
ship, the Santiago, sailed from Monterey under Juan 
Perez June 11, 1774. Perez had instructions to sail 
to the sixtieth parallel before making his landfall. But 
running short of water, he put about to the east on 
July 15th and on the 20th reached the coast near the 
present southern limits of Alaska. He named the 
place Santa Margarita. Perez now decided to aban- 
don the attempt to reach a higher latitude, and turned 
to explore the land southward to California. Drop- 
ping down some six degrees, he ran into a " C " shaped 
harbour which he named San Lorenzo, a. roadstead 
which later became famous under the name of Nootka 
Sound. Many points on the Oregon and California 
coasts were seen by Perez on his voyage southward, 
which terminated at Monterey August 27. 

Heceta's discovery. Perez had made a general ex- 
ploration of the entire northwest coast from the parallel 
of 42 ° to 54 40', but he had failed to reach the region 
visited by the Russians. In the following year a new 
expedition was fitted out under the command of Cap- 
tain Bruno Heceta. Heceta had instructions requir- 
ing him to reach latitude 65 °. At a point near Fuca's 
Strait, the present Point Grenville, he landed and per- 



12 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

formed the ceremony of taking possession. Soon 
afterward Heceta decided to turn back, but one of his 
two ships, the Sonora, under the command of Bodega 
e Cuadra, held her course northward until she attained 
the latitude 58 °. Cuadra landed at a point on the 
Alaska coast opposite Mt. Edgecumbe, which he named 
San Jacinto, and there performed the ceremony of 
taking possession. 

On his southern voyage Heceta saw the bay at the 
mouth of the Columbia, but while recognizing the 
signs of a great river, he failed to enter it. 

Origin of Cook's third voyage. We have now 
reached an important turning point in the history of 
the Northwest Coast. The British, through the earlier 
explorations already mentioned, had developed an ex- 
traordinary interest in the Pacific. Cook had explored 
Australia and New Zealand, great land masses occupied 
by numerous aboriginal tribes; numerous smaller is- 
lands had been found especially in the South Pacific, 
so the dream of Arthur Dobbs was beginning to take 
on some of the features of reality. 

Great Britain had not found a northern passage 
into the Pacific. But it was now known, since Samuel 
Hearne's journey to the mouth of Coppermine River in 
1 769-1 772, that there was open sea far above the 
latitude of Hudson's Strait and far to the northwest 
of Hudson's Bay. The suggestion was that by sail- 
ing much farther north than formerly a channel might 
be found. And since Bering's Strait probably con- 
nected the Pacific with the northern sea in the west, 



Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast 13 

the chance of finding the passage would be doubled by 
searching from both oceans simultaneously. 

Captain Cook was commissioned to make the attempt 
from the west. His instructions were issued July 6 
and he sailed on July 12, 1776. 

Cook's instructions. After making certain re- 
searches in the South Pacific, his orders were to run to 
the coast of "New Albion" 1 in about latitude 45 , 
thence to proceed northward to 65 °, and endeavour to 
find a way from Bering's Strait into the Atlantic. 

Cook discovers the Sandwich Islands. After 
spending eighteen months in southern waters, Cook 
sailed northward and in January, 1778, discovered a 
group of islands on which he bestowed the name of his 
patron, the Earl of Sandwich. 

Two months later he came in sight of the Oregon 
coast in about latitude 44 . He first ran a couple of 
degrees southward and then up the coast to about 47 
where he began a careful search for a strait which 
maritime tradition declared had once been found in 
that latitude by a Greek pilot named Juan de Fuca. 
Cook convinced himself that the story of Juan de 
Fuca's voyage from the Pacific to the Atlantic was a 
myth, like so many other sailors' tales. 

Limits of Cook's discoveries. About latitude 49 ° 
Cook entered the harbour named San Lorenzo by Perez 
— Nootka Sound. There the Indians crowded about 

1 A part of the coast of California was named New Albion by 
Drake. But it was erroneously held in England that he had ex- 
plored under that designation a long stretch of coast line. 



14 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the vessel, bringing furs to barter with the sailors. 
Steering northwest, Cook saw San Jacinto Mountain, 
so named by Cuadra, which he rechristened Mt. Edge- 
cumbe. In latitude 6o° he saw a lofty peak which he 
named Mt. St. Elias. Cook held his course westward 
and northward, exploring the Alaska coast and inlets. 
Finally, sailing through Bering's Strait, on the 9th 
day of August, 1778, he reached the "western ex- 
tremity of all America " in latitude 65 ° 46'. Directly 
opposite he found the easternmost point of Asia. The 
first he named Cape Prince of Wales, the second East 
Cape. 

Finding the season too far advanced for the pro- 
jected search for a passage to the Atlantic, Cook turned 
back to winter in the Sandwich Islands, where he lost 
his life in February, 1779. 

Their historical significance. Cook was not the 
discoverer of the Northwest coast. But, while he 
came after the Spanish navigators in time and while 
he left much for others to do, he yet made the first 
extended scientific surveys in that region and in effect 
gave to the world its first definite information concern- 
ing the contour of western North America from the 
latitude of California to Cape Prince of Wales. 



CHAPTER II 

DISCOVERY OF PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER 

Cook's men discover the world's best fur market. 

The voyage of Captain Cook had one result which 
neither he nor his government had foreseen. At 
several points along the northwest coast and the Alaska 
coast, particularly at Nootka Sound and at Cook's 
Inlet, the natives crowded around the ships to exchange 
sea-otter skins and other furs for such baubles as the 
sailors cared to part with. The white men wanted the 
skins for clothing and bedding, to make their voyage 
more comfortable, no one suspecting that their value 
was more than nominal. But when the exploring 
squadron touched at Canton, on the south coast of 
China, merchants came on board to bargain for these 
furs. The prices offered went up day by day until at 
last the men were selling the remains of their otter-skin 
garments and a few unused furs for sums that seemed 
almost fabulous. " Skins which did not cost the pur- 
chaser sixpence sterling," writes one of the men, " sold 
for one hundred dollars." The excitement on ship- 
board was intense. The crew wished to return at once, 
secure a cargo of furs on the northwest coast, and make 
their fortunes. When the officers refused, they 



1 6 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

begged, blustered, and even threatened mutiny, but of 
course in vain. 

Beginnings of the Northwest Coast fur trade. 
The discovery of the value of otter skins in the Canton 
market instantly changed the thought of the world with 
respect to the northwest coast. The region abounded 
in furs, but thus far it had not been visited for com- 
mercial purposes. Spain had sent her navigators along 
those coasts to confirm her ancient claim of sovereignty 
over them, Great Britain because she hoped to find, 
half hidden behind some jagged cape, the long sought 
passage to the eastern sea. A powerful new motive 
now became operative. In a few years ships flying 
the colours of England, of France, of Portugal and of 
the new Republic of the United States began regularly 
to visit those waters, their crews prospecting madly 
among the coves and inlets wherever the presence of 
Indian tribes gave promise of a profitable trade. 

So far as is now known, the first definite plan for 
carrying on this northwest fur trade was projected by 
Captain King who, in the published report of Cook's 
voyage, recommended that the East India Company 
should begin the trade, combining exploration with it. 1 
While this plan was not carried out, a private company 
under Richard Cadman Etches prepared in 1785 to 
undertake " a regular and reciprocal system of com- 
merce between Great Britain, the Northwest Coast of 
America, the Japanese, Kureil, and Jesso Islands, and 
the coasts of Asia, Corea and China." This company, 

1 Cook's Voyage, II, 437-440. 




The Sea Otter 



Discovery of Puget Sound 17 

which seems to have received the government's bless- 
ing, with no financial help, sent forward the same year 
two well equipped vessels, named the King George and 
the Queen Charlotte, under command respectively of 
Nathaniel Portlock and George Dixon, both of whom 
were naval officers on leave. 1 

Discoveries of Dixon, Barclay, Meares, Duffin. 
The King George and Queen Charlotte were not the 
first vessels to sail for the northwest coast in response 
to the new commercial stimulus. 2 But we are inter- 
ested in the way the fur trade influenced exploration 
and we know from the journal of Captain Dixon that 
important results aside from commercial gains flowed 
from the voyage of the Queen Charlotte in the years 
1786 to 1787. Dixon, in sailing south from Alaska, 
discovered that the land lying just below fifty- four 
degrees was an island and he named it Queen Char- 
lotte's Island. He explored nearly its entire circuit 
and named several points on what he supposed was the 
mainland to the east, among them Cape Pitt, Cape 
Chatham, and Cape Dalrymple which outlined Dixon's 
Strait. 

Other traders from Macao in China and from Ostend 
were on the coast during the years 1786 to 1788 and 
their commanders, Captain John Meares and Captain 

1 An Authentic Statement, etc., of facts relating to Nootka 
Sound. By Argonaut (Richard Cadman Etches) London, 1790. 

2 James Hanna, an Englishman from the coast of China is sup- 
posed to have reached the northwest coast in 1785'. He had a 
small vessel and flew the Portuguese flag, doubtless to elude the 
British East India Co. He secured a profitable cargo. 



1 8 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Barclay especially, while on profits bent as their main 
issue, incidentally made discoveries of considerable 
value. Barclay, sailing from Nootka in July, 1787, 
discovered a passage between Cape Flattery and the 
land he had just left, which we know as Vancouver 
Island but supposed at that time to be the mainland. 
The next year Meares ordered his lieutenant Robert 
Duffin to explore that passage which now was traced 
for the distance of several leagues. The passage lay 
only one degree north of the fabled strait of Juan de 
Fuca and while, unlike that creation of a sailor's fancy, 
it did not in fact connect the two great oceans, no one 
knew what it might lead into and its discovery revived 
the most active geographical speculation. 

Men began to see that Cook's voyage after all left 
many things unsettled. The great navigator had 
located Cape Flattery and Nootka Sound, after which 
he had sailed to the Alaska coast without so much as 
suspecting that he had been running past a succession 
of great islands instead of along the continental coast- 
line. That fact was now becoming clear, and the new 
found strait suggested a sea of indefinite extent in that 
latitude, eating into the continent. 

The Nootka Sound Controversy. The new geo- 
graphical problems raised by the work of the maritime 
fur traders, in themselves would have justified a new 
British exploring expedition under government aus- 
pices. Another circumstance tending to the same re- 
sult was the now celebrated Nootka Sound Controversy 
of 1 789-1 790. This arose over the attempt of Spain, 



Discovery of Puget Sound 19 

in 1789, to fortify Nootka Sound and exclude all 
foreigners from that region, of which as we saw she 
claimed the exclusive sovereignty. Harsh treatment 
of British traders and the forcible seizure by Don 
Martinez, the Spanish commander, of several British 
owned vessels at Nootka precipitated the quarrel which 
at one time seemed to foreshadow war. Finally, the 
two nations reached an agreement called the Nootka 
Convention which records a complete triumph for 
Britain. In it Spain conceded the right of British 
subjects to trade and make settlements upon any part 
of the coast not already occupied. In other words, 
Spain gave up her exclusive claim so far as the coast 
above California was concerned. 1 

For carrying out the terms of the Nootka Conven- 
tion it was necessary for both nations to send navi- 
gators to the Northwest Coast and Great Britain sent 
on that service Captain George Vancouver, who was 
destined to become pre-eminent as the geographer of 
the Northwest Coast. 

Vancouver's Voyage. Vancouver spent portions 
of three summers in those waters and he gave to the 
world a great map of the west coast of North America 
from San Diego in California to Cook's River, or 
Cook's Inlet, in Alaska. He explored the inland sea 
into which De Fuca's Strait was found to lead and 
named it Puget's Sound for his friend Lieutenant 
Puget; he circumnavigated Vancouver Island; he ex- 

1 See Manning, William Ray. The Nootka Sound Controversy. 
Rept. of Am. Hist. Assn, 1904 p. 279-478. 



20 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

plored the numerous inlets which penetrate the con- 
tinent between Fuca's Strait and Alaska. While a 
portion of the work in Puget Sound waters had been 
done before Vancouver arrived by the Spanish ex- 
plorers Quimper, Eliza, Galieno and Valdez, and while 
the great Spanish explorer Cuadra was so closely asso- 
ciated with himself that he called the island north of 
Fuca's Strait Vancouver and Cuadra 's Island, yet to 
Vancouver is due the credit for combining into one sys- 
tem the results of many separate explorations and for 
giving the world an intelligible view of northwest coast 
geography as a whole. 

Vancouver had been instructed by the Admiralty to 
secure accurate information concerning any waterway 
that might help to connect the northwest coast, for com- 
mercial purposes, with Canada, and the admiralty sug- 
gested to him that such a waterway might perhaps be 
found by entering Fuca's Strait and the sea into which 
it must lead. They say: "The discovery of a near 
communication between any such sea or strait, and any 
river running into or from the Lake of the Woods 
would be particularly useful." * This supposed river, 
flowing into the western sea near Nootka Sound, from 
the Lake of the Woods, or thereabouts, was an idea 
which the government had derived from the Montreal 
fur traders who as early as 1784-5 were anxious to 
explore to the Pacific and who sent in memorials forti- 
fied by fanciful maps based upon their own conjectures 
or upon the equally indefinite guesses of the Indians, 

1 Instructions in Vancouver's Voyage, Ed. of 1801, 1 -40-41. 



Discovery of Puget Sound 21 

near and remote. 1 Therefore, in a sense, Vancouver's 
instructions represent a transition from the earlier idea 
of finding a strait through which ships might sail from 
Pacific to Atlantic, to the later idea of finding a prac- 
ticable line of communication, such as a river or rivers, 
across the continent. 

The Columbia River. On Vancouver's map one 
such possibility is indicated in the delineation of a 
great river which enters the Pacific just above the 46th 
parallel and which was traced for the distance of about 
one hundred miles inland. The name it bears is 
Columbia River. This is the first time it has appeared 
on a map of the coast. It was not, however, a dis- 
covery of the British geographer, but of a plain Yankee 
skipper and it is to be credited to the maritime fur 
trade just as are the discoveries of Fuca's Strait and 
Queen Charlotte's Island. 

John Ledyard. The American interest in the 
Northwest Coast trade possibly sprang also from the 
reports of Cook's voyage. John Ledyard of Hartford, 
Connecticut, was a corporal on Cook's flagship. In 
1783 Ledyard returned to the United States and 
promptly published a small volume giving an account 
of Cook's voyage. He had been so deeply impressed 
with the chance for gain in a fur trade between the 
Northwest Coast and Canton that he laboured inces- 

1 Such a map was executed by Peter Pond, agent of the North- 
west Company, or as it then was the Frobisher Brothers of Mon- 
treal, and sent to the government in 1785. Brymner, Canadian 
Archives, Report for 1890. 



22 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

santly to interest Boston, New York and Philadelphia 
merchants to fit out a ship, of which Ledyard was to 
be supercargo, for the purpose of inaugurating that 
trade. He failed, and went to France, where he pur- 
sued the same idea, again without success. 1 

A Boston company organized for the N. W. and 
China trade. Whether the tradition of Ledyard's 
appeal was bearing fruit among the merchants of Bos- 
ton, whether they became interested in reports of Eng- 
lish ships outfitting for the Northwest trade, or whether 
they were moved by the reading of " Cook's Voyage," 
we do not know. 2 But in 1787 a company headed by 
Joseph Barrell was formed for carrying on a trade to 
the Northwest Coast, from there to Canton and thence 
back to Boston. The ships Columbia and Lady Wash- 
ington, under John Kendrick and Robert Gray sailed 
from Boston harbour October 1 of that year, rounded 
Cape Horn and appeared the next autumn on the 
Northwest Coast. They wintered at Nootka, and in 
1789, having completed a cargo, Gray in the Columbia 
sailed for China and on the 9th of August, 1790, ar- 
rived at Boston after circumnavigating the globe. 

Captain Gray discovers the Columbia River. 
The successful opening of the trade excited great in- 
terest in the New England capital. 3 The Columbia 

1 For Ledyard's relations Jefferson at Paris, see page 35 below. 

2 Bulfinch's Oregon & El Dorado, published in 1866, in which 
we are told that Cook's voyage was " the topic of the day " in 
Boston in 1787 cannot be accepted as proof on the point. 

3 See newspaper notices as reprinted in the author's Acquisi- 
tion of Oregon, p. 21-22. 



Discovery of Puget Sound 23 

was sent back at once and it was on this second voy- 
age that Captain Gray made his famous discovery. 
He had wintered on the coast and in the spring was 
working southward, turning his prow into every strange 
inlet in the hope of finding fresh villages of natives to 
exploit for furs. 1 On the 7th of May he ran into a 
harbour in latitude 46 58' which he called Bulfinch 
Harbour but to which Vancouver later gave the more 
appropriate name of Gray's Harbour. Four days later 
he ran in between the breakers into what at first he 
supposed to be another harbour. He says, however, 
" When we were over the bar we found this to be a 
large river of fresh water, up which we steered." 
Gray traded with the Indians along the lower Colum- 
bia, and before leaving the river, which he did on May 
20, he bestowed upon it the name of his good ship. 2 

Vancouver explores the Columbia. Vancouver 
learned from Gray about the new discovery, and in 
October he sent Lieutenant Broughton into the river 
with the ship Chatham. Broughton ascended to the 
first rapids, about one hundred miles from the bar, 
whereas Gray had sailed up only some thirty miles. 

1 The traders found that the largest profits came from the 
trade with Indians who had never before seen white men. The 
Americans in one case secured furs valued at several hundred 
dollars for an old chisel ! Hence profitable trade was depend- 
ent on new explorations. 

2 Gray also named the north and south headlands at the mouth 
of the river, calling the first Cape Hancock, the second Cape 
Adams. Meares, in 1788, had named the North Cape Disappoint- 
ment which name it retains. 



24 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Vancouver's map represents Broughton's survey but re- 
tains Gray's name for the river. 

Vancouver's map was published in 1798. Three 
years later appeared Mackenzie's map of the western 
parts of North America, which was constructed by 
combining with Vancouver's map certain features 
which Mackenzie himself had discovered, or supposed 
he had discovered. The result, so far as the Colum- 
bia is concerned, is very striking. 

Rivalry of the Northwest and Hudson Bay Com- 
panies. Alexander Mackenzie was a partner of the 
Northwest Company, the Montreal concern which as 
early as 1784-5 projected an exploring expedition hav- 
ing the Pacific Ocean as its objective. This company 
was a bitter rival of the old chartered Hudson Bay 
Company, and it was seeking ways of hedging that 
company about. Arthur Dobbs, in 1744, complained 
of the Hudson Bay Company's want of exploring or 
even trading enterprise ; that they merely allowed cer- 
tain tribes of the natives to come down the rivers to 
their forts to trade but did not deign to go among them 
or send agents to develop commerce with tribes not yet 
reached. Later, however, the company became more 
active and the great journey of Samuel Hearne to 
Coppermine River, 1769-72, had added enormously to 
their trading field in the far Northwest. 

Exploration of Mackenzie River, 1789. But the 
Northwest Company had an establishment called Fort 
Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca, which was favourably 
located with reference to explorations either to the 



Discovery of Puget Sound 25 

north or to the west. In 1789 Mackenzie set out from 
Fort Chipevvyan with a small party in canoes and, 
circling Great Slave Lake, discovered a river flowing 
out of that lake toward the north. He descended the 
river to the Arctic Ocean, making the entire journey 
in forty days. Returning, he immediately organized 
the trade along the line thus opened. Since he had 
found the estuary of Mackenzie River choked with ice 
in July, and since he observed in the west a chain of 
mountains running still farther north, Mackenzie be- 
came convinced of the impracticability of a northwest 
passage around the continent. He therefore came to 
believe in the extreme desirability of finding a way 
through or across the continent to the Pacific, an idea 
we saw the British admiralty suggesting in its instruc- 
tions to Captain Vancouver about the same time. 

Accordingly, Mackenzie proposed to reach the Pacific 
by ascending Peace River which flows into Lake Atha- 
basca from the west, and from its sources to cross to 
some west-flowing stream. Wintering near the Rocky 
Mountains on Peace River in 1792-3, he resumed his 
journey May 9, 1793, and on the 18th of June discov- 
ered a river having a westerly course. This he de- 
scended for twenty-five days when the difficulties of 
navigation impelled him to leave the river. By follow- 
ing an old trail and afterward descending another 
smaller stream with a more direct course, he and his 
party of ten intrepid woodsmen reached the Pacific in 
latitude 52 20' at a place which had been recently sur- 
veyed by Vancouver and by him called Cascade Canal. 



26 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Here on the smooth, protected surface of an over- 
hanging cliff, the trader-explorer left a memorial of 
his achievement in the legend : " Alexander Mac- 
kenzie from Canada by land, the twenty-second of 
July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety three." 

The river down which Mackenzie floated so many 
days was called by the Indians Tacoutchee Tesse. It 
must, he argued, flow into the Pacific, and since it 
trended strongly southward he concluded that it was 
identical with the river shown on Vancouver's map 
under the name Columbia. This identification Mac- 
kenzie indicated on his map by a dotted line which re- 
lates the lower Columbia to the Tacoutchee Tesse. 

In fact, Mackenzie had been on Fraser River, which 
flows into Puget Sound, and not on the upper Colum- 
bia at all. But his mistake gave rise to most interest- 
ing speculations about the practicability of connecting 
the fur trade of the Columbia with that of Canada and 
Hudson Bay. Mackenzie's " Voyages," published in 
1 80 1, presents his trading plan in detail. 

Mackenzie's plan for consolidating the British 
North American fur trade. Mackenzie proposed that 
the Hudson Bay Company and Northwest Company 
should unite in a single organization to control the fur 
trade of North America from the parallel of 45 ° to 
the pole. The line of communication from the Rocky 
Mountains by way of Lake Winnipeg and Nelson River 
to Hudson Bay was so much shorter than the line which 
ran to Montreal that Hudson Bay at the mouth of 
Nelson River should be regarded as the proper place 



Discovery of Puget Sound 27 

for the trade emporium on the Atlantic side. " But," 
says Mackenzie, " whatever course may be taken from 
the Atlantic, the Columbia is the line of communication 
from the Pacific Ocean, pointed out by nature, as it is 
the only navigable river in the whole extent of Van- 
couver's minute survey of that coast; its banks also 
form the first level country in all the southern extent 
of continental coast from Cook's entry [Inlet] and, 
consequently, the most northern situation fit for colon- 
ization, and suitable for the residence of a civilized 
people." The line of posts would begin at the mouth 
of Columbia River, and in the Rocky Mountains it 
would connect with the head of Saskatchewan River, 
which it would follow to Lake Winnipeg and Nelson 
River. Related to this continental trade would be 
" the fishing in both seas and the markets of the four 
quarters of the globe." * 

Mackenzie appeared to anticipate little difficulty in 
carrying out his plan of using the Columbia, assuming 
that it would be a simple matter for Great Britain to 
acquire title to the territory through which it flowed. 
He remarked that the boundary between British and 
American possessions in the Northwest must be recti- 
fied 2 by drawing a line from the Lake of the Woods 

1 Mackenzie's Voyage, p. 411. It should be pointed out that, 
although Mackenzie was mistaken in supposing he had been on the 
Columbia, his inferences from that supposition were perfectly 
sound, for it was the Columbia, not the Fraser, which interlocked 
with the Saskatchewan. 

2 The boundary line described in the treaty of 1783 was an im- 
possible line. It assumed that a line drawn due west from the 



28 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

to some point on the Mississippi. But since, under the 
treaty of 1783, Great Britain had a right to navigate 
the river, that line must come down to a point where it 
becomes navigable. And wherever that might be, 
probably at the parallel of 45 °, it must be continued 
west, till it terminates in the Pacific Ocean, to the 
south of the Columbia. 

northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods would strike 
the Mississippi, but the source of that river proved to be too 
far south. 



CHAPTER III 

ORIGIN OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 

What was known about the Northwest Coast in 
the year 1801. Mackenzie's error in supposing the 
Columbia to be identical with the river he descended, 
for some days, in 1793 shows how tardily correct geo- 
graphical knowledge concerning the Pacific North- 
west was being accumulated. The coast line, indeed, 
had now been pretty accurately ascertained. The 
estuaries of the rivers were laid down on the map of 
Vancouver. The possibility of reaching the coast 
overland, from Fort Chipewyan, had been demon- 
strated by Mackenzie, who also hazarded a happy guess 
as to the relation between the upper Columbia and the 
river systems connecting with Hudson Bay. But when 
Mackenzie published his "Voyages," in 1801, nothing 
definite was yet known about the relation between the 
Columbia, flowing into the Pacific near the 46th par- 
allel, and the Missouri or other rivers rising in the 
Rocky Mountains and flowing southward toward the 
Gulf of Mexico. Traditions, or vague surmises, such 
as Jonathan Carver published in 1778, about a " River 
of the West," or " Oregon," whatever their source, 
cannot be taken for actual geographical knowledge. 

How the Columbia might be traced; David 

29 



30 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Thompson's story of a trip to the Columbia in 1801 ? 

There were two lines along which such exact informa- 
tion would probably be sought. The Canadians, fol- 
lowing Mackenzie's suggestion, might work their way 
across the Rockies from the head waters of the Sas- 
katchewan, in which case they would reach one of the 
great branches of the Columbia and readily descend it 
to the sea. On the other hand, the young American 
nation, prompted by its interest in the Mississippi sys- 
tem, might seek the Columbia by way of the Missouri 
connection. Both lines of communication were bound 
to be utilized in time and circumstances would deter- 
mine which should have the precedence. There is 
some reason to believe that an attempt was made by the 
Northwest Company of Canada in or about the year 
1 80 1, to carry out Mackenzie's plan to connect the 
Canadian trade with a Columbia River trade. David 
Thompson, who was for many years geographer of the 
company, stated in 1845 that he led a party across the 
Rockies to the head waters of McGillivray's River, a 
branch of the Columbia, but was driven back by the 
Indians. Thus the project, if it was really undertaken, 
ended in failure. 1 

From this time forward the major interest in the 
overland route to the Pacific shifts to the United 

1 In David Thompson's Memorial to the British Government. 
In Pub. Record Office, London. F. O. America, 440. Informa- 
tion has reached me which indicates that Thompson's MS journals 
fail to support this claim. One of the McGillivrays in 1801 ap- 
proached the divide near the sources of the Saskatchewan. Let- 
ter of T. C. Elliott, dated Jan. 7, 1916. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 31 

States. And as in Canada one man, Mackenzie, had 
been the pivot about which far west explorations 
turned, so in this country the central influence moulding 
policies and determining results was likewise a unique 
individual, Thomas Jefferson. 

Sources of Jefferson's interest in the west. Jef- 
ferson's interest in the west had two sources, environ- 
ment and philosophy. We know that his Piedmont 
home was practically at the frontier of Virginia where 
his father, Peter Jefferson, established himself as a 
pioneer about the year 1737. Probably this fact helps 
to explain the heartiness of Jefferson's sympathy with 
all things western. But, on the other hand, Jefferson 
was perhaps the most perfect American representative 
of the type of eighteenth century philosopher. He 
was passionately fond of knowledge and he had a 
strong bent for investigation. This caused him to look 
into questions of every sort, and problems in geography 
or in natural history appealed to him powerfully. The 
fact that a great portion of the American continent 
was as yet unexplored insured Jefferson's special inter- 
est in that region. He was restlessly anxious to learn 
all those facts about it that were still unknown. But 
as he saw " the works of nature in the large," to use 
his own phrase, the great features of its geography, 
like its mountains and water courses, were to him of 
paramount interest. 

The Missouri and its connections as Jefferson saw 
them in 1781-2. In the years 1781 and 1782 Jeffer- 
son wrote a greographical and political work entitled 



32 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

" Notes on Virginia." In this book he shows con- 
siderable knowledge of those portions of the trans- 
Allegheny region which had been previously explored. 
He discusses the plants and animals native to those 
regions, the lead and coal deposits, and calls especial 
attention to certain extraordinary deposits near the 
Ohio River of the bones of huge, extinct animals. 1 
Our chief interest, however, is to learn what Jefferson 
at that time knew about those features of western geog- 
raphy which condition the discovery of an overland 
route to the Pacific, especially the river systems. 

Jefferson justifies a special treatment of far western 
rivers, although they are not within the boundaries of 
Virginia, on the ground that they open to the people of 
Virginia " channels of extensive communication with 
the Western and Northwestern country." . . . His 
description of the Missouri is most interesting. " The 
Missouri [he says] is in fact the principal river, con- 
tributing more to the common stream than does the 
Mississippi, even after its junction with the Illinois. 
It is remarkably cold, muddy, and rapid. Its over- 
flowings are considerable. They happen in the months 
of June and July. Their commencement being so much 
later than those of the Mississippi, would induce a belief 
that the sources of the Missouri are northward of those 
of the Mississippi, unless we suppose that the cold in- 
creases again with the ascent of the land from the 
Mississippi westwardly. That the ascent is great, is 

1 We know from Jefferson's letters how earnestly he tried to 
procure specimens of the " big bones " found near the Ohio. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 33 

proved by the rapidity of the river. Six miles above 
its mouth it is brought within a compass of half a 
mile's width; yet the Spanish merchants at Pancore, 
or St. Louis, say they go two thousand miles up it. 
. . . What is the shortest distance between the naviga- 
ble waters of the Missouri and those of the North River 
[Rio del Norte or Rio Grande], or how far this is 
navigable above Santa Fe, I could never learn." 

At another place in the book Jefferson records the 
following incident : " A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner 
near the mouth of the Tanissee, relates that, after being 
transferred through several tribes, from one to another, 
he was at length carried over the mountains west of 
the Missouri to a river which runs westwardly." 1 

These writings show that Jefferson knew something 
about the northwestward reach of the Missouri and 
that he had a vague notion about a connection between 
that river and the south flowing Rio Grande, as also 
between the Missouri and a west flowing stream. But 
the " river which runs westwardly " had for him as 
yet neither name, character, nor exact destination. 

His letter to Steptoe. His manner of writing 
about these things, however, indicates Jefferson's eager- 
ness to learn all that could be learned about them, and 
in letters written near the same time we have proof 
that his mind was turning to methodical exploration as 
a means of clearing up such geographical problems. 
On the 26th of November, 1782, he wrote to James 

1 Quotations from Jefferson's writings, Ford's Ed., as reprinted 
in the author's Acquisition of Oregon Territory, pp. 29-30. 



34 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

Steptoe to thank him for his proposed attempt to pro- 
cure for Jefferson some of the " Big Bones " from the 
Ohio. In this letter he takes occasion to suggest: 
" Any information of your own on the subject of the 
big bones or their history or on anything else in the 
western country will come acceptably to me. . . . 
Descriptions of animals, vegetables, minerals, or other 
curious things, notes on the Indians' information of 
the country between the Mississippi and waters of the 
South Sea, etc., etc. will strike your mind as worthy 
being communicated." 1 

Letter to George Rogers Clark. It was a full 
year later, December 4, 1783, that Jefferson wrote the 
now well known letter to George Rogers Clark sug- 
gesting an exploration from the Mississippi to fore- 
stall a prospective British exploration to California and 
asking the resourceful Kentucky soldier how he would 
like to lead such a party. 2 

1 1 follow the Congress edition in the above. Ford has it, III, 
p. 63 : " Notes on the Indians, information of the country between 
the Mississippi and waters of the South Sea," making a comma 
out of an apostrophe, unless the Congress edition has reversed 
that process. 

2 " I find," he says, writing from Annapolis, where Congress 
was then sitting, " they have subscribed a very large sum of 
money in England for exploring the country from the Mississippi 
to California; they pretend it is only to promote knowledge. I 
am afraid they have thoughts of colonizing in that quarter. Some 
of us have been talking here in a feeble way of making the at- 
tempt to search that country. But I doubt if we have enough of 
that kind of spirit to raise the money. How would you like to 
lead such a party, though I am afraid the prospect is not worth 
asking the question." Am. Hist. Rev. Ill, 675. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 35 

We do not know what route would have been fol- 
lowed if this suggested expedition had been carried 
out. But since Jefferson in his " Notes " shows a 
very clear knowledge of the route to Santa Fe, with the 
distance from New Orleans, it was possibly his idea 
that California should be entered from the south. 
Still, we are free to assume that his interest in the 
" river that runs westwardly " might have determined 
that the expedition should ascend the Missouri, in the 
hope of reaching California along the course of some 
unknown River of the West, such as Carver repre- 
sented as entering the Pacific below the forty-fifth 
parallel. 

Jefferson and Ledyard ; their plan of exploration 
failed. However that may be, it is certain that there- 
after Jefferson gave his attention consistently to the 
problem of finding a connection from the Missouri to 
the Pacific, or the reverse. In 1786 he collaborated 
with John Ledyard, who had been a corporal on Cook's 
flagship, a project for exploring from the Pacific east- 
ward to the Missouri and thence to the United States. 
Ledyard was then in Paris, where he tried unsuccess- 
fully to secure support for his commercial scheme 
which included a fur trade on the Northwest Coast, 
and a trade in Chinese goods at Canton. Jefferson be- 
lieved him well qualified for exploring ventures, al- 
though recognizing that he had " too much imagina- 
tion." He requested the Russian government to grant 
Ledyard permission to cross Siberia. Ledyard was to 
go to Kamtschatka, cross from there in some Russian 



36 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

vessel to Nootka Sound, and penetrate eastward to 
the Missouri. 1 Ledyard, however, got no farther than 
Siberia, when he was turned back by officials of the 
Russian government. 2 

The Michaux project; Jefferson's instructions to 
Michaux. Jefferson's paternal relation to the Ameri- 
can Philosophical Society afforded an opportunity, in 
1793, to promote another attempt to discover the over- 
land route to the Pacific. Andre Michaux, a famous 
French botanist, who was already somewhat familiar 
with parts of western America, sought the encourage- 
ment of that society and was offered financial aid upon 
condition that he " explore the country along the 
Missouri, and thence westwardly to the Pacific Ocean." 
In his instructions to Michaux Jefferson wrote. 3 " As 
a channel of communication between these states and 
the Pacific Ocean the Missouri, so far as it extends, 
presents itself under circumstances of unquestioned 
preference. It has therefore been declared as a funda- 
mental object of the subscription (not to be dispensed 
with) that this river shall be considered and explored 
as a part of the communication sought for. . . . You 

1 This plan seems impossible except on the theory that Jeffer- 
son and Ledyard believed in a west flowing river which inter- 
locked with the Missouri, as did Carver's River of the West, or 
Oregon. 

2 Jefferson, in 1821, stated that the Empress of Russia refused 
permission to Ledyard, deeming the plan entirely chimerical, but 
that he undertook to cross Siberia without official sanction and 
thus subjected himself to arrest and forcible return. 

3 Writings, Federal Edition, VII, 208-209. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 37 

will then pursue such of the largest streams of that 
river as shall lead by the shortest way and the lowest 
latitudes to the Pacific Ocean. ... It would seem by 
the latest maps as if a river called Oregon, interlocked 
with the Missouri for a considerable distance, and en- 
tered the Pacific Ocean not far southward of Nootka 
Sound. But the society are aware that these maps are 
not to be trusted so far as to be the ground of positive 
instruction to you. They therefore only mention the 
fact, leaving to yourself to verify it, or to follow such 
other as you shall find to be the real truth." 

It would seem, from these instructions, as if Jeffer- 
son's knowledge of western rivers, relating to the 
Missouri was in 1793 no more complete, or very little 
more complete, than it was in 178 1-2. * 

Failure again. Michaux's energies were dissipated 
in political activities, directed by the French minister, 
Genet, and the exploring plan failed of execution, like 
that of Ledyard six years earlier. 

When Jefferson returned to the project, ten years 

x The instructions to Michaux were written in January, 1793. 
Capt. Robert Gray, who discovered the mouth of the Columbia 
River in May, 1792, returned to Boston in July, 1793. But there 
is no evidence that Jefferson learned of Gray's discovery other- 
wise than through Vancouver's Voyage published in 1798. 
Thwaites's statement, Original Journals of Lewis and Clark, I 
XXI. "Jefferson hoped that this stream [discovered by Gray] 
would be found to interlock with the Missouri " is based on the 
supposition that Jefferson possessed in 1793 knowledge which he 
could not have had at that time. Jefferson knew nothing about 
the Columbia, and the " Oregon " mentioned by him probably re- 
fers to Carver. 



38 A History of the Pacific Northzvest 

later, conditions were much more favourable. There 
was now available a fund of geographical information 
which did not exist in 1793, and there were political 
incentives to exploration which reinforced the scientific 
motive. And, better than all, Jefferson as President 
was in a position to secure the practical execution of 
his design. 

The Vancouver and Mackenzie maps. The most 
important additions to the geography of the west were 
those contained in Vancouver's map (1798), which 
laid down the lower Columbia, and in Mackenzie's map 
( 1 80 1 ) which described an actual northern route across 
the continent, although erroneously relating Colum- 
bia river to that route. Mackenzie also made more 
definite many things pertaining to the river systems east 
of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the forty-fifth 
parallel. Also, the nature of the mountain barrier be- 
tween the eastfiowing and the westflowing rivers could 
be measurably realized from Mackenzie's description 
of the pass he followed. 1 

The political incentives which contributed to induce 
Jefferson to promote westward exploration in 1803-6 
might almost be considered sufficient in themselves to 
bring about the result. 

Napoleon alarms the Americans. When Jefferson 

1 There is evidence in the map Lewis executed at Fort Mandan 
in the winter of 1803-4 that he had with him Mackenzie's map. 
Both Vancouver's book and Mackenzie's are referred to by Gal- 
latin in his correspondence with Jefferson on the subject of the 
instructions to Lewis in 1803. Probably the explorers carried 
copies of both. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 39 

entered upon his office of President, March 4, 1801, 
the Mississippi was still the western boundary of the 
United States. All west of the river was supposed by 
Americans to belong to Spain, which had been in pos- 
session at New Orleans since 1763. As a matter of 
fact, however, Napoleon had recently forced Spain to 
give back Louisiana to France, but without publishing 
to the world the treaty of October, 1800, by which this 
was accomplished. When the Americans learned, a lit- 
tle later, of the change of ownership of this western 
territory, and the prospect that France would succeed 
Spain at the mouth of the Mississippi, great alarm was 
felt throughout the country. " Perhaps nothing since 
the Revolutionary War," wrote Jefferson, " has pro- 
duced more uneasy sensations throughout the body of 
the nation." 

The western settlements. A glance at the condi- 
tion of the West of that time will explain why this was 
so. The entire region beyond the Alleghenies was by 
nature tributary to the Mississippi. It was a fertile 
land, containing rich valleys, beautiful plains, and far- 
stretching forests which once teemed with wild game. 
Daniel Boone called Kentucky " a second Paradise." 
He and other pioneers at first entered the region as 
hunters. Afterward they cut a road through the 
Shenandoah Valley and Cumberland Gap ("the Wil- 
derness Road"), through which they brought their 
wagons, families, and cattle, to make new homes upon 
the western waters. The pioneers of Tennessee ar- 
rived at about the same time, just before the Revolu- 



40 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

tionary War, and occupied the high valleys along the 
head waters of Tennessee River. From these be- 
ginnings settlement had spread rapidly in spite of In- 
dian wars and frontier hardships, until, in the year 
1800, Kentucky had a white population of 180,000, 
and Tennessee 92,000. By that time Ohio had also 
been settled, partly by Revolutionary soldiers from 
New England, and already counted 45,000 people. A 
few settlers were scattered along the rivers of Alabama 
and Mississippi, and still others lived in the old dilapi- 
dated French villages of Illinois, Indiana, and Michi- 
gan. We will not be far wrong in placing the total 
white population on Mississippi waters in 1800 at 325,- 
000. 

Conditions of life in the West. The prosperity of 
all these people was absolutely in the hands of the power 
that controlled the Mississippi. At that time there 
were no canals joining the eastern and western streams ; 
railroads had never been heard of ; and the steamboat, 
afterward such a wonderful aid in transporting goods 
and passengers up the rivers of the West, was yet to 
be invented. Manufactured goods, articles of little 
bulk and considerable value, were carried across the 
mountains from the Atlantic seaboard by pack train or 
wagon, to supply the frugal wants of the frontier set- 
tlers. Cattle from the great ranges of Kentucky and 
Tennessee were driven eastward to market ; but all the 
other produce of farm, mill, and factory, the surplus 
wheat, corn, pork, flour, and lumber, were carried to 
the one invariable market at New Orleans. 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 41 

Dependence on the Mississippi. So long as 
Americans had the free use of the Mississippi, all was 
satisfactory. In theory this was one of our unques- 
tioned rights ; but the practical fact was different, for 
the Spaniards owned the land on both banks of the 
river at its mouth, and our people were dependent on 
them for a place to deposit the produce brought down 
until it could be transferred to ocean vessels. If they, 
or the French who were about to step into their places, 
should refuse to continue this right of deposit, or should 
charge a heavy toll for it, they could sap the very life- 
blood of the American communities in the entire trans- 
Allegheny region. 

Spaniards close the Mississippi. The Spaniards 
were supposed to be too weak to attempt this with any 
promise of success ; but France had become the dread of 
Europe, and ranked as. the greatest military power of 
the world. It is not strange that Americans should 
take alarm at the prospect of having her as a neighbour 
on the west, especially since this would mean French 
garrisons planted about New Orleans. The uneasi- 
ness of which Jefferson wrote was caused by the fear 
that France, when once in possession, might undertake 
to oppress the Americans in order to establish her in- 
fluence over the western people. Just before the close 
of the year 1802 the news reached Washington 
that a Spanish official at New Orleans had actually 
denied to Americans the right of deposit, which was 
guaranteed by treaty. This action not only increased 
the alarm already widely felt, but aroused the West 



42 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

to a desire for war in which many eastern people 
shared. 

Jefferson's plan to buy New Orleans and West 
Florida. Jefferson was by nature strongly averse to 
war, and would sometimes yield a great deal in order 
to preserve peace. In this case, however, his mind 
seems to have been made up. We must go to war 
rather than permit France to take and keep possession 
of the mouth of the Mississippi. But it would be best, 
he thought, to delay the armed conflict as long as pos- 
sible, and meantime he would try to gain the control 
of the river for the United States by the arts of diplo- 
macy, in the use of which he was a master hand. The 
plan was to frighten Napoleon with a threat that the 
United States would join Great Britain in a war against 
France, and thus induce him, as a condition of peace, 
to sell us the island and city of New Orleans, together 
with West Florida. This would give the United 
States both banks of the Mississippi at its mouth, and 
insure the control of the river. Jefferson had already 
instructed Robert R. Livingston, our minister to 
France, to undertake this purchase of territory from 
Napoleon; and when the war spirit ran high in Con- 
gress, during the winter of 1 802-1 803, he sent James 
Monroe to Paris as a special commissioner to assist 
in carrying out this plan. At the same time Congress 
took measures to place the country in as good condition 
as possible to bear the shock of a future war. 

The special message of January 18, 1803. It was 
under these circumstances, when the country was ex- 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 43 

cited over affairs in the West, and fearful of a collision 
with the overshadowing power of France; when the 
fate of the Mississippi appeared to be hanging in the 
balance, and might turn either way; that President 
Jefferson sent to Congress the now famous message of 
January 18, 1803, recommending an exploring expedi- 
tion to the Pacific. 

Its two divisions. The first part. This document 
contains two distinct parts, which ought, however, to 
be read together. The first part deals with questions 
which apparently relate wholly to Indian affairs. But 
the reader of the message can readily see that the 
President's chief purpose was to provide additional 
protection to the Mississippi River. He felt strongly 
that our interests would not be safe till the United 
States had a large population in the West, and espe- 
cially along the great river itself. The government 
must encourage the westward movement in every 
proper way, and thus " plant upon the Mississippi itself 
the means of its own safety." But especially must an 
effort be made to establish American settlements on the 
great stretches of unoccupied land immediately along 
the east bank. Since the Indian tribes owned most of 
this land, something must be done to induce them to 
part with it ; and Jefferson believed that the best method 
was to continue selling them goods, including ploughs 
and other implements which had a tendency to make 
of the Indians as agricultural people. With the ex- 
pansion of their corn fields, the growth of their herds 
and flocks, they would see the uselessness of retaining 



44 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

vast stretches of forest for hunting grounds, and would 
be glad to sell these to the government for money or 
needed supplies. That is why Jefferson dwells at such 
length upon the importance of maintaining government 
trading houses, where they already existed among In- 
dian tribes, and urges Congress to consider carefully 
the question of establishing others. The Mississippi 
River, and the question of how to defend it, lie back of 
this entire discussion. 

When we come to the second part of the message 
other questions appear, but the argument for the pro- 
tection of the Mississippi still applies if instead of a 
French danger we will substitute a British danger as 
the inciting cause. 

Fear of British designs on Upper Mississippi. 
We have seen how Mackenzie believed that the bound- 
ary between the United States and Great Britain in 
the Northwest would be completed by drawing a line 
to a navigable point on the Mississippi, say just below 
St. Anthony's Falls in latitude forty-five degrees, and 
that he insisted also on drawing a line from that point 
west " until it terminates in the Pacific Ocean to the 
south of the Columbia." 

Since the northern boundary of Louisiana, which 
was then still a Spanish territory, had never been defi- 
nitely ascertained, it might not have proved difficult for 
Great Britain to push her boundary south to the forty- 
fifth parallel, or even lower. But it was clearly against 
the interest of the United States that she would do so, 
because it would endanger the upper Mississippi even 



Origin of Lewis and Clark Expedition 45 

as the French occupation would endanger the lower 
Mississippi. 

Alertness of the American government. When, 
early in the year 1803, it seemed to our government a 
wise policy to seek an alliance with Great Britain 
against the French, in case Napoleon should refuse to 
sell New Orleans and West Florida, Monroe and Liv- 
ingston were authorized to pass over from Paris to 
London for that purpose. They were definitely in- 
structed, however, not to yield to Great Britain the 
privilege of gaining for herself territory west of the 
upper Mississippi. That she would ask that privilege 
Secretary of State Madison thought likely, for three 
reasons : her desire " to extend her domain to the 
Mississippi, the uncertain extent of her claims, from 
north to south, beyond the western limits of the United 
States, and the attention she has paid to the Northwest 
Coast of America." Gallatin, at about the same time, 
thought we might be obliged to take immediate pos- 
session of northern Louisiana "to prevent G[reat] 
B[ritain] from doing the same." Gallatin considered 
that " the future destinies of the Missouri country are 
of vast importance to the United States." * 

The political advantage of controlling the Colum- 
bia. If the control of the Mississippi, down to latitude 
forty-five degrees, would entitle Great Britain to sweep 
westward along that parallel to the Pacific, as Mac- 

1 He suggested that Captain Lewis, on his expedition to the 
West, should be instructed to examine carefully into the means 
by which a British attempt on the Missouri could be frustrated. 



4.6 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

kenzie suggested, then the possession of the mouth of 
the Columbia, and the territory south on the Pacific to 
the same parallel would justify a claim of territory 
eastward to the Mississippi. In other words, the 
British could be prevented from gaining territory west 
of the Mississippi in two ways: first, by making our 
own people strong on the Missouri ; second, by gaining 
control of the Columbia. 

An Exploring Expedition justified from several 
points of view. Now an expedition which would 
ascend the Missouri to the source of one of its principal 
branches, find a connection with a branch of the Colum- 
bia, and descend that river to the sea would be per- 
fectly adapted to secure for the United States both of 
these advantages. Jefferson said of such an expedition : 
" An intelligent officer, with ten or twelve men fit for 
the enterprise, and willing to undertake it, might explore 
the whole line, even to the Western Ocean, have con- 
ferences with the natives on the subject of commercial 
intercourse, get admission among them for our traders, 
as others are admitted, agree on a convenient deposit 
for an interchange of articles, and return with the 
information acquired in the course of two summers." 

Here the President speaks only of commercial and 
scientific objects. These were important. But the 
political objects were possibly not less important. At 
all events, through a combination of favouring circum- 
stances Jefferson was now enabled to execute a long 
cherished exploring enterprise destined to establish an 
overland route to the Pacific. 



CHAPTER IV 

OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 

Plan of organization ; Captain Meriwether Lewis. 

Jefferson's plan for carrying out the exploring project 
was to appoint an army officer as leader, and let him 
select a few men from the military posts, wherever 
they could best be spared. In this way he would not 
only secure men trained to obey a commander, which 
was an important point, but would be enabled to fit out 
the expedition at slight expense; for the soldiers and 
officers would continue to draw their regular pay from 
the military department. His choice for leadership 
fell upon Meriwether Lewis, a young Virginian, 
brought up in the neighbourhood of Monticello, who 
had long been a favourite of Jefferson. He was of 
good family, was fairly well educated, and had many 
gifts both of mind and person. From boyhood Lewis 
had been fond of hunting, and had made himself an 
excellent woodsman. He was also an enthusiastic stu- 
dent of plants and animals, was inured to the hard- 
ships and discipline of camp life, and understood the 
character and customs of the American Indians. For 
a number of years he had been in the regular army, 
but at this time held the office of private secretary to 

47 



48 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the President. His qualifications were admirable in 
so many respects, that in spite of some lack of scien- 
tific training, Jefferson " could have no hesitation in 
confiding the enterprise to him." He knew Lewis to 
be " honest, disinterested, of sound understanding, and 
a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should 
report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves." 
Besides, he was " steady in the maintenance of dis- 
cipline," and would be " careful as a father of those 
committed to his charge." 

William Clark. It was at Lewis's suggestion that 
the President appointed a second officer to share the 
command of the party, and the man to fill the post was 
also selected by the young captain. By a curious 
chance the individual chosen was William Clark, 
younger brother of the celebrated western general, 
George Rogers Clark, to whom Jefferson had made 
the first proposal of an overland journey to the Pacific 
in 1783. Like Lewis, Clark was a man of military ex- 
perience, having served under General Wayne (" Mad 
Anthony") in the campaign against the Ohio In- 
dians. He had travelled widely in the West, on sev- 
eral occasions even crossing the Mississippi. Clark 
was a few years older than Lewis, and differed from 
him in being less imaginative and enthusiastic ; but in 
all respects he was a worthy companion, splendidly 
qualified to share the responsibility of the great enter- 
prise. The two leaders were peculiarly fitted to work 
together harmoniously, and did so from the beginning 
to the end of the expedition. 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 49 

Instructions. The main object. Jefferson per- 
sonally prepared the instructions which were to govern 
the leaders in their work. " The object of your mis- 
sion," he wrote to Lewis, " is to explore the Missouri 
River and such principal stream of it as, by its course 
and communication with the waters of the Pacific 
Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or 
some other river, may offer the most direct and prac- 
tical water communication across the continent for the 
purpose of commerce." 

Notes and records. They were to keep careful rec- 
ords day by day of the distances travelled and the 
points of interest along the route. All noteworthy 
geographical features, such as the mouths of tributary 
rivers, rapids, falls, and islands, were to be accurately 
located with respect to latitude and longitude, so that a 
correct map of the rivers followed and the portages 
between them could be drawn from the explorers' 
notes. The President suggested that several copies of 
these notes should be made in order to guard against 
their loss by accident; and also "that one of these 
copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper- 
birch as being less liable to injury from damp than 
common paper." The officers were urged to induce as 
many of the men as possible to keep diaries, and sev- 
eral of them did so. 

Dealing with Indians. Full instructions were 
given about dealing with the Indian tribes along the 
route, the explorers being required to " treat them in 
the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their 



50 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

own conduct will admit"; they were to impress upon 
the red men that the United States was not only their 
friend, but that she was a great and strong power able 
to afford them full protection. If possible, they 
should arrange to have a few influential chiefs visit 
Washington. 

Other matters. The President made his instruc- 
tions complete enough to cover every detail of the 
work proposed. Climate, soil, plants, animals, curi- 
ous geological remains, Indian legends — all these and 
other matters were to be kept in mind, and all possible 
information secured concerning them. " Should you 
reach the Pacific Ocean," he said, " inform yourself 
whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as 
advantageously at the head of the Missouri ... as 
at Nootka Sound or any other point of that coast." 
If so, the trade not only of the Missouri and Columbia, 
but of the Northwest Coast as well, might be carried 
across the continent to the eastern seaboard of the 
United States. One of the most pleasing paragraphs 
in the instructions is that in which the humane philoso- 
pher says to Lewis, " We wish you to err on the side 
of your safety, and to bring back your party safe, even 
if it be with less information." 

Preparations. Gathering the party. Captain 
Lewis spent several weeks in Philadelphia, under sci- 
entific instructors, and then set out for the West. He 
expected to get under way up the Missouri before the 
end of the year 1803. But delays at Pittsburg, 
where a drunken boat builder kept him waiting a 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 51 

month, and difficulties in navigating the Ohio during 
low water, wore away the summer. Clark joined him 
in Kentucky, and at several of the western posts sol- 
diers were enlisted for the journey. Of these there 
were four sergeants and twenty-three privates, includ- 
ing nine Kentucky hunters. Two French interpre- 
ters, the Indian wife of one of these (Sacajawea), and 
Clark's burly negro, York, completed the party. Six- 
teen additional soldiers and water men were engaged 
to accompany the expedition as far as the villages of 
Mandan Indians. 1 

The first winter. The winter of 1803- 1804 was 
passed in camp at the mouth of the river Du Bois, 
opposite the Missouri. Captain Clark spent most of 
his time in drilling the men, building boats, and making 
other necessary arrangements about the establishment ; 
while Lewis purchased supplies at St. Louis, and gath- 
ered information concerning the route from traders 
who thus early were familiar with the river as far as 
the Mandan villages. He frequently visited the Amer- 
ican officers, and other persons of note in the little 
French hamlet, so soon to become an important Amer- 
ican town. On the 9th of March he witnessed the 
ceremony of lowering the foreign flag and raising the 
emblem of our own country over the territory of upper 
Louisiana. 

1 The muster roll of the party, on leaving Fort Mandan, is 
given in Coues's "Lewis and Clark Expedition," New York, 1891, 
I, P- 2 53, note. Much interesting matter on the persons composing 
the party is contained in Eva Emery Dye's " Conquest," Chicago, 
1902. 



52 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

The start. La Charette. By the 14th of May the 
final touches had been given to the preparations, and 
the exploring party commenced the historic journey 
across the continent. Their supplies, instruments, 
articles for trade and presents for the Indians were 
carried in a flotilla consisting of three boats : one was 
a keel boat of twenty-two oars, with deck, sail, and 
breastworks ; the other two were small craft, of six and 
seven oars respectively. Many of the leading citizens 
of St. Louis turned out to see them off. As the boats 
toiled up the swift-flowing Missouri they were often 
hailed from the banks by groups of French settlers, 
and sometimes by companies of Americans who were 
already beginning to emigrate to this newly opened re- 
gion of the West. At St. Charles they made a halt of 
several days, and it was not till the 25th of May that 
the explorers passed La Charette, the home of Daniel 
Boone, and the last settlement on the Missouri. From 
this point their path lay wholly within the Indian coun- 
try. 

They meet up-river traders. On the 5th of June 
they " met a raft of two canoes joined together, in 
which two French traders were descending from 
eighty leagues up the Kansas River, where they had 
wintered and caught great quantities of beaver." 
Nine days later they encountered another party of 
traders coming down from the Platte. The 4th of 
July was celebrated by the firing of the big gun, and 
apparently in other ways, for one of the journalists 
says that a man was snake-bitten. 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 53 

Indian council; Council Bluff; death of Charles 
Floyd. On the east side of the Missouri, near the 
mouth of Platte River, Lewis and Clark held councils 
with the Oto and Missouri Indians, giving the chiefs 
medals to hang about their necks, distributing flags, 
and leaving other tokens of American supremacy. 
The place of the gathering they named Council Bluff, 
noting that here was a good situation for a fort and 
trading house. The soil was good for brick, wood was 
convenient, and the air was " pure and healthy." One 
other incident of this part of the journey is de- 
serving of notice. On the 20th of August, when the 
party was passing the site of the present Sioux City, 
Sergeant Charles Floyd died and was buried by his 
companions near the river. This is the only death 
that occurred on the entire journey. 

Missouri River landscape. Buffalo. The coun- 
try afforded little variety of landscape as day by day 
the exploring party moved along the course of the 
Missouri. Almost everywhere was the narrow fringe 
of forest, running down to the water's edge, while here 
and there a wood-covered island divided the current of 
the river. Parallel to the stream, and at varying dis- 
tances from it, low ranges of hills separated the valley 
from the broad prairie beyond. Deep ravines, cutting 
across the line of bluffs, opened natural highways from 
river to upland, and these were often worn down by 
the hoofs of the buffalo, which regularly followed 
such paths in search of water. Immense herds of 
these animals were seen, and many were slain by the 



54 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

hunters, adding not a little to the good cheer that en- 
livened the evening camp. 

Arrival at the Mandan villages; Fort Mandan; 
the winter's work; British traders. About the end 
of October they reached the villages of the Mandan 
Indians, within the present boundaries of North 
Dakota. The sharp night frosts warning them of ap- 
proaching winter, it was decided to establish quarters 
here. A site was chosen, cottonwood and elm logs 
were brought from the river bottom, and a 
" fort " built. This consisted simply of two rows 
of rude block-houses, placed in the form of 
a letter " V," with shed roofs rising from the 
inner sides. A row of strong posts, or palisades, 
completed the triangle. Such was Fort Mandan, 
where Lewis and Clark spent the long, severe, 
yet busy and not unpleasant winter of 1804- 
1805. Many things required to be done. There were 
notes to copy, reports to write, maps to draw ; articles 
of interest found on the trip up the Missouri must be 
prepared for submission to the President; new boats 
were needed for the upward journey. These prepara- 
tions occupied the leaders during a large part of the 
winter ; but they took occasion, also, to visit all of the 
surrounding Indian tribes, and to make the best ar- 
rangements possible concerning future trade with them. 
British traders from the far north visited them at 
Mandan during the winter, and carried back to the 
posts of the Northwest Company and to Montreal re- 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 55 

ports concerning the American party which was on its 
way to the Pacific. 

Up the Missouri again. The Yellowstone. In 
March the thaw came, and soon the Missouri was once 
more free of ice. On the 7th of April, after starting 
the keel boat down the river, the eager travellers pro- 
ceeded on their way rejoicing in the expectation of 
soon beholding the River of the West, and the great 
ocean which was the object of their search. Before 
the month closed they passed the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone, where the plains were " animated by vast herds 
of buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope," usually so tame 
that they allowed the hunter to come very near them, 
" and often followed him quietly for some distance." 
Beaver, too, were especially abundant here. From 
Indian travellers Lewis obtained a good account of the 
Yellowstone, and the country through which it flows. 
Near its confluence with the Missouri was " a situation 
highly eligible for a trading establishment." 

The grizzly bear. Other terrors. One form of 
game found in this region was rather tamer than the 
explorers desired it to be, the grizzly bears, with which 
they had many thrilling encounters. On one occasion, 
when he had just discharged his rifle at a buffalo, Cap- 
tain Lewis discovered one of these terrible animals 
rushing furiously toward him, with jaws distended, 
ready to tear him in pieces. There were no trees at 
hand, and the captain had barely time to reach the 
river bank and leap into the water, when he was able 



56 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

to frighten the beast off with his halberd. Other ter- 
rors were not wanting. A buffalo bull storming 
through camp after dark, a night fire and falling tree 
trunk, dangerous rapids, the upsetting of a boat — 
these are but hints to indicate the nature of the experi- 
ences with which the days and nights were filled, as 
the explorers pushed on through this wild but inter- 
esting region, toward the sources of the great Mis- 
souri. 

The interlocking rivers. After some difficulty at 
the Three Forks, they ascended what they called the 
Jefferson branch, and on the 12th of August Captain 
Lewis, with one division of the party, arrived at the 
headsprings of the river, high up near the summit of 
the Rockies, in a spot " which had never yet been seen 
by civilized man." On the same day he crossed over 
to " a handsome bold creek of cold, clear water," flow- 
ing zvestward. The interlocking rivers, one flowing to 
the Atlantic, the other to the Pacific, had at last been 
found. 

The Shoshones. Sacajawea. It was not long be- 
fore he discovered a party of Shoshone Indians, from 
whom, after much delay, horses were procured for the 
journey to the navigable waters of the Columbia. At 
this point the Indian woman, Sacajawea, proved ex- 
tremely helpful, for she belonged to the tribe of Sho- 
shones and turned out to be the sister of a leading 
chief. 

Character of the west slope of the Rockies ; prob- 
lem of the route. The explorers were now face to 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 57 

face with the most serious problem encountered dur- 
ing the journey. The western slope of the Rockies 
differed greatly from the eastern in being much more 
rugged and precipitous, with deep canons through 
which the rivers rushed and swirled for great dis- 
tances, until finally, on emerging from the mountains, 
they became navigable for boats. The travellers had 
been able to ascend the Missouri, to its source, with 
comparative ease, following along the river valley 
which usually was free from serious obstructions, a 
plain and easy path, sloping so gradually that it ap- 
peared to be almost level. Now they must make their 
way over sharp ridges, through terrific mountain de- 
files, choked with fallen timber and masses of rock 
debris. Moreover, they had no satisfactory way of 
determining what route to take, or how far they would 
be obliged to travel before reaching navigable water. 
It was necessary to follow the advice of their Shoshone 
friends to some extent, but the leaders soon found that 
this could not be relied upon altogether. 

Clark discovers and names Lewis River. As a 
preparatory step, Captain Clark explored a way down 
Salmon River to its junction with a larger river to 
which he gave the name of his friend Lewis. 1 But he 
learned that this stream was unnavigable for many 
miles below the point reached, and that it would be im- 
possible to follow its course through the canon. He 
therefore returned, and the explorers decided to cross 
over to the river which flowed northward (Clark's 

1 It is now commonly called " Snake River." 



58 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Fork). This they would follow to a point below, 
where an Indian road, the Lolo Trail, was said to 
cross the Bitter Root Mountains to the mouth of the 
north branch of the Clearwater. For nearly a month 
they threaded dark forests, over steep hills, rocks, and 
fallen trees ; made their way along dangerous cliffs ; 
crossed raging torrents, whose icy waters chilled both 
men and animals. Sometimes they encountered 
storms of sleet and snow, again the " weather was 
very hot and oppressive." Most of the men became 
sick, and all were much reduced in strength. Food 
was so scanty that they were compelled to kill and eat 
some of the travel-worn horses. 

Navigating the Columbia to the sea; under the 
shadow of Mt. Hood. At the place where the north 
fork of the Clearwater joins the river of that name, 
the party prepared five canoes, and on the morning of 
the 7th of October entered upon the last stage of their 
eventful journey. The difficulties of travel were 
nearly over, for the boats glided swiftly down the cur- 
rent, and ten days brought them to the confluence of the 
Lewis and Columbia. Here they were greeted by a 
procession of two hundred Indians, marching in their 
honour to the music of primitive drums. In two weeks 
they passed the Great Falls (Celilo), Long Narrows 
(Dalles), and Cascades, reaching on the 2nd of Novem- 
ber the tide-water section of the river. Then, on the 
7th of November, they heard the breakers roar, and 
soon saw, spreading and rolling before them, the waves 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 59 

of the western ocean — " the object of our labours, the 
reward of all our anxieties." 

Establish winter quarters; Fort Clatsop. The 
purpose of the expedition had been achieved. A high- 
way across the continent of North America was now an 
established fact, and all that remained to be done was 
to carry back the news of the great discovery. Jeffer- 
son had instructed Lewis to find, if possible, a ship on 
the Pacific by which some or all of the party might re- 
turn to the United States with the journals of the ex- 
pedition. But, while traders sometimes entered the 
Columbia, as the natives testified, no vessel appeared 
during the winter of 1 805-1 806. All that could be 
done was to spend the rainy season on the Oregon 
coast, and take up the return march overland in the 
spring. At a place three miles above the mouth of the 
Netal (now called Lewis and Clark River), on the 
" first point of high land on its western bank," the ex- 
plorers erected a low-roofed log building to which, in 
honour of the neighbouring tribe of Indians, they gave 
the name of Fort Clatsop. 1 The location was by no 

1 The Netal enters Meriwether's, now called Young's, Bay. The 
fort was located two hundred yards from the bank of the river. 
It was in the form of a square, 50x50 feet. Two cabins, one of 
three, the other of four, rooms, occupied two sides. Between 
them was the parade ground, the ends of which were closed by 
means of posts or palisades. In the June (1904) number of 
Scribner's Magazine, Mr. Reuben Gold Thwaites publishes for 
the first time the ground plan of Fort Clatsop. The drawing was 
found by him while searching among Clark's papers, " traced upon 
the rough elk-skin cover of his field book." 



60 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

means ideal, for the party was in need of food, and in 
this region game was not very plentiful. The winter 
at Fort Clatsop was therefore a time of real hardship, 
relieved by the hope of a speedy return to homes beyond 
the mountains. The shelter was completed on the last 
day of December; the next morning " a volley of small 
arms " was fired " to salute the new year." Some of 
the men were kept busy hunting the lean elk, on which 
the party was forced to subsist ; others were sent to the 
seacoast — seven miles distant — to manufacture a 
supply of salt. At the fort the officers busied them- 
selves with the notes and journals of the expedition. 

Completing the great map. On the nth of Feb- 
ruary Clark finished the great map of the overland 
route, so often printed, and a copy of a part of which 
is found in this book. A little trade with the Chi- 
nooks and Clatsops (mainly for dogs, fish, and wapato 
roots) formed the chief diversion during this tedious 
winter. 

The return begun March 23, 1806; arrive at St. 
Louis September 23, 1806. The days dragged pain- 
fully by till the 23d of March, when our travellers com- 
menced the homeward journey. Before setting out 
they distributed written statements among the Indians, 
explaining who it was that had so mysteriously come to 
their country from the land of the rising sun. These 
the natives were instructed to show to any white men 
who should visit the river. The journey eastward was 
not without its difficulties. The tribes along the river 
demanded high prices for horses and dogs, and the 




The Lewis and Clark map executed at Fort Clatsop 



> •rf jt auAsii xfct ■■" 


i£*i«- 








»i^2^3EiE?^^ - 


REt'-' _ j 



Astoria in 1813 



Opening a Highway to the Pacific 6 1 

stock of goods carried by the explorers was soon ex- 
hausted. But both Lewis and Clark were skilled in 
the use of common remedies for the diseases which pre- 
vailed among the Indians, and by selling their " drugs " 
at a high price they were able to buy the supplies which 
were indispensable to them. The snow still lay deep 
in the gulches when the party reached the western base 
of the Rocky Mountains, impeding their progress for 
many days ; but in spite of all obstacles, they made the 
journey with complete success, reaching St. Louis on 
the 23d of September, just six months out from the 
mouth of the Columbia. 1 

1 Captain Lewis went at once to Washington to make his re- 
port to President Jefferson. Soon afterward he was appointed 
governor of Missouri Territory, but died very suddenly and mys- 
teriously, in 1809, at the early age of thirty-five. 

Captain Clark was for many years the United States superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs for the West, with headquarters at St. 
Louis. He died in 1838. 

The journals of the expedition, very much amended and abbre- 
viated, were first published in 1814 under the editorship of Nich- 
olas Biddle. Many editions, based upon this one, have appeared 
since that time, the most satisfactory being that by Dr. Elliott 
Coues, New York, 1891, 3 vols. A new edition, containing a lit- 
eral transcript of the complete journals, and much matter relat- 
ing to the expedition not hitherto published, was issued in 1905 
under the editorship of Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL. D. 



CHAPTER V 

THE FUR TRADE ON THE COLUMBIA 

Lewis's first report. Arriving at St. Louis, on the 
23rd of September, 1806, Captain Lewis wrote to 
Jefferson to give him a summary of what had been ac- 
complished since the party left the Mandan villages in 
April, 1804, nearly two and one-half years previously. 1 

Description of the route. In the first part of the 
letter he describes the route pursued, and affirms his 
belief that it constitutes the best available line of com- 
munication across the continent. Of this line the Mis- 
souri makes 2575 miles, while 340 miles of land car- 
riage connect the navigable part of the Missouri with 
the navigable part of the Columbia. Of the 340 miles 
of land carriage, 200 miles is along a good road, while 
140 miles is " over tremendous mountains which for 
60 miles are covered with eternal snows." 

Despite the obstacle of the mountains, the passage, 
he says, is practicable from the last of June to the last 
of September, while owing to the abundance and the 
cheapness of horses among the Indians, the cost of 
transporting goods over that stretch of road would be 

1 Thwaites. Original Journals of Lewis & Clark, V, VII, pp. 

334-337- 

62 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 63 

very light. The Columbia could be navigated safely 
from the first of April to the middle of August. 

Advantages for the fur trade; that trade should 
tend westward not eastward. Lewis considered the 
new route as offering special advantages for the devel- 
opment of a fur trade. 1 The greater part of the letter 
is devoted to an outline of the plan upon which this 
trade should be carried on. This outline, by the man 
who had actually investigated the subject at first hand, 
differed widely from that suggested to him by Jeffer- 
son in the instructions of April, 1803. Jefferson 
wished to know if the furs of the Columbia and those 
collected along the Pacific, as well as the Missouri 
River furs, might not be carried overland, by the 
Columbia and the Missouri, to the United States. 
Lewis found, on the contrary, that the furs of the 
upper Missouri streams might be carried across the 
mountains to the Columbia, where, their volume 
swelled by the furs collected on the Columbia and its 
branches, they could be carried to the mouth of the 
Columbia each year by the first of August. Thence 
they could be shipped to Canton, China, where they 
would arrive earlier than the annual shipments from 

1 He does not think it equal to the route around South America 
for the transportation of East Indian goods to the United States 
and thence to Europe, although " many articles not bulky, brittle, 
or of a perishable nature may be conveyed to the United States 
by this route with more facility and less expense than by that at 
present practised." 

His reference to oriental trade, in this letter, shows that the 
subject had been discussed between Jefferson and Lewis. 



64 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Montreal arrive in England. This advantage in time 
of marketing the furs, would prove so attractive, that 
Lewis apparently thought the Northwest Company of 
Canada also would seek the privilege of conveying their 
furs from the region south and west of Lake Winnipeg 
to the mouth of the Columbia for shipment to China. 

By establishing stations on the Columbia at various 
points, and employing a sufficient number of men to 
handle the business effectively, Lewis foresaw that 
East India commodities might be carried up the 
Columbia each spring, and about July these could be 
exchanged at the upper stations for the furs brought 
from east of the mountains. The furs would be car- 
ried down the river to be shipped across the Pacific; 
the India goods would reach St. Louis by the end of 
September each year. 

The richest fur country. Lewis considered the 
Rocky Mountain branches of the Missouri, and all of 
its streams as far east as the mouth of the Cheyenne, 
to be " richer in beaver and otter than any other coun- 
try on earth." The Columbia had fewer beaver and 
otter, but yet considerable numbers of them, and in 
addition a variety of other fur bearing animals, bears, 
the tiger cat, foxes, the martin, etc. 

Government aid suggested. He concludes this 
section of his letter with the words: "If the govern- 
ment will only aid even on a limited scale the enterprise 
of her citizens I am convinced that we shall soon derive 
the benefits of a most lucrative trade from this source 
and in the course of ten or twelve years a tour across 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 65 

the continent by this route will be undertaken with as 
little concern as a voyage across the Atlantic is at 
present." 

The suggestion in Lewis's letter that the Northwest 
Company of Canada would probably seek the lower 
Columbia for the sake of the China market is interest- 
ing in view of the activities of that company at this 
very time. 

Plans of the Northwest Company; Mackenzie's 
plan again; its execution deferred. We recall that 
Mackenzie, in 1801, published his plan for a union of 
the Hudson Bay and Northwest companies with a 
view to engross the fur trade of the entire region of 
North America above the forty-fifth parallel. This 
plan contemplated utilizing the mouth of the Columbia 
on the Pacific and Hudson Bay on the Atlantic side as 
the sea-ports serving a world trade, the two ports being 
connected by a great line of trading posts along the 
main water courses east and west of the Rockies. 
Troubles in Canada, between the two great companies, 
and within the Northwest Company's group itself, de- 
layed all plans of carrying the trade into the region be- 
yond the Rockies explored in part by Mackenzie in 

1793- 

The company crosses the Rockies. In 1805, the 
Northwest Company, stimulated by a knowledge of the 
effects of the Lewis and Clark expedition, resolved to 
plant trading stations west of the Rocky Mountains in, 
as they supposed from Mackenzie's report, the region 
of the Columbia River. Mr. Simon Fraser in the 



66 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

autumn of that year, planted the first of those stations, 
Fort McLeod, in latitude 55 ° north. 1 Thus, while 
Lewis and Clark were wintering at Fort Clatsop, within 
the sound of the breakers of the Pacific, a small party 
left by Fraser spent the winter west of the Rockies, in 
the far interior, nearly nine degrees of latitude to the 
northward, on the shores of Lake McLeod. 

Fraser's new trading posts; exploring the great 
river. In 1806 Fraser founded two other stations, 
Fort St. James, on Stuart Lake, and Fort Fraser at 
Fraser Lake. Then, in the spring of 1807, came orders 
for him to explore the great river still believed to be 
the Columbia, in order to limit American activities 
and to find a more practicable route than the one by 
Peace River for the trade into the trans-Rocky Moun- 
tain region. 2 With incredible difficulty, Fraser de- 
scended the great river in the summer of 1808, reaching 
the sea coast in July, to find, on determining its lati- 
tude, that the river was not the Columbia at all ! 

David Thompson. When Fraser was beginning 
his preparations for descending the river he supposed 
to be the Columbia, David Thompson was crossing 
the Rockies at Howse Pass. He reached, on June 22, 
1807, a tributary of the real Columbia but, while he 
spent much time during the years following on the 
upper waters of the river, it was not till four years 
later that he descended to its mouth. When he did so 
he encountered the Astor party who had already con- 

1 Morice. The Northern Interior of British Columbia, 54. 

2 Morice, p. 70-71. 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 67 

structed a fort, Astoria, and were ready to ascend the 
river to begin the fur trade in regions previously 
visited by Thompson. 

Commercial strategy and the Columbia. In the 
development of the western fur trade of the United 
States a natural development, after Lewis and Clark's 
journey, would have been to carry that trade into the 
uniquely rich beaver and otter regions of the upper 
Missouri, thence across into the mountain country 
where multitudes of streams flow westward to form 
the Columbia, and finally along the Columbia to the 
sea. This doubtless would have been the course of 
evolution, had not commercial strategy seemed to de- 
mand the prompt occupation by Americans of the 
mouth of the Columbia. Mackenzie had urged the im- 
portance of such an occupation, from the Canadian 
point of view, in 1801. The Northwest Company, 
fearing that the Lewis and Clark exploration boded an 
American occupation, were straining every effort to 
anticipate the Americans. Under the circumstances, 
it would not do to allow many years to pass, while 
trade was laboriously pushing its way westward across 
the Rockies and down the Columbia, before occupying 
the dominating position at the mouth of the great river 
itself. 

This was the reasoning of Mr. John Jacob Astor, 
who was one of the most far-sighted and statesmanlike 
among the American merchants of the day. 

Astor had been engaged in a world trade, from New 
York, for a quarter of a century. He early began to 



68 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

specialize in furs, making up many of his cargoes at 
Montreal, the headquarters of the Northwest Com- 
pany. 

As he bought the Northwest Company's bales of 
beaver and otter skins for the purpose of a world ex- 
change, Astor studied the methods and the organiza- 
tion by which the primary fur trade of the wilderness 
was conducted. 

Astor's trading project. When Lewis and Clark 
returned from their journey, with information about 
the route to the Pacific and the opportunities for trade 
along the Missouri and Columbia rivers, Mr. Astor 
planned a brilliant trading project, similar in many 
ways to that of Mackenzie. He believed it would be 
possible, with his large capital and tested business abil- 
ity, to gain control of the trade over a broad belt of 
country stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific 
Ocean. The first point was to push westward to the 
Mississippi and the Missouri. For this purpose he or- 
ganized (1808) the American Fur Company, in which 
Astor himself was the principal stockholder. Next he 
proposed to establish a central station, at the mouth of 
the Columbia, for the trade of the region lying beyond 
the Rocky Mountains, and build a line of trading posts 
along the route explored by Lewis and Clark from the 
Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi. 1 He planned to send 
from New York every fall one ship freighted with 

1 Astor had already begun a trade along the Great Lakes, so that 
practically the great depot on the Pacific would be connected 
with his business office in New York. 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 69 

goods for the Indian trade, and supplies for all the 
posts west of the Rocky Mountains. On arriving in 
the Columbia, about February or March, she was to 
unload this portion of her cargo and sail along the coast 
to gather the sea otter and other furs which the natives 
had long been accustomed to sell to American shipown- 
ers who visited those coasts at irregular intervals. This 
cruise was to be extended as far north as Sitka, for the 
purpose of carrying supplies to the Russians in ex- 
change for their furs. 1 Thereafter she was to return 
to the Columbia. Meantime, in May or June, the trad- 
ers from the interior posts would have delivered at the 
central station all the furs secured during the preced- 
ing winter on the rivers flowing into the Columbia. 
These were then to be placed on board the vessel, which 
would sail to Canton during the following winter. 
The cargo of furs was to be exchanged for an equally 
valuable cargo of silks, tea, and other Chinese goods, 
with which the Astor ship was expected to return to 
New York after an absence of about two years. 

He sends the Tonquin to the Columbia. Such 
was the plan worked out in all its details by Mr. Astor 
before any part of it was put into operation. In the 
summer of 1810 he fitted out his first ship, the Ton- 

*At Sitka (New Archangel) the Russian American Fur Com- 
pany collected furs from the neighbouring islands, the Alaskan 
coast, and the interior. But they had very poor facilities both 
for marketing their product and obtaining necessary supplies. 
They were glad of the opportunity to make arrangements with Mr. 
Astor by which their furs were to be carried to the Canton market 
and regular supplies brought to New Archangel. 



70 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

quin, for the voyage around Cape Horn. She was 
placed in charge of Captain Jonathan Thorn, and left 
New York under the convoy of the famous American 
warship Constitution. On board the Tonquin were 
several of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company, 
organized by Mr. Astor to carry out his project. Most 
of these had been engaged in Canada, among the men 
belonging to the Northwest Company. The clerks, too, 
were nearly all Canadians. 1 The Tonquin left New 
York on the 6th of September, 1810, rounded Cape 
Horn in December, and two months later arrived at 
the Hawaiian Islands. The voyage thus far had been 
without serious accident, but was marred by almost 
ceaseless wrangling between the captain and the Cana- 
dian partners. While a good disciplinarian, and 
doubtless a very successful commander on a ship of 
war, Captain Thorn was not well qualified to manage 
a group of independent Scotch and American fur 
traders. 

Arrival at the Columbia ; Astoria. When the ship 
arrived off the mouth of the Columbia, March 22, 
181 1, new difficulties arose. The waves were running 
high, and the line of breakers across the entrance to the 
river struck terror to the hearts of inexperienced sail- 
ors. Yet the captain sent out men in the ship's boat 
to sound the channel, a proceeding in which seven of 
the little company lost their lives. Three days passed 

1 For a delightful account of the way these Canadians went 
down to New York, by boat, to await the sailing of the Tonquin, 
see Franchere's Narrative, New York, 1854, pp. 23-25. 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 71 

before the Tonqnin crossed the bar and anchored safe 
in the river. Then the Astor party selected a site for 
their fort, and began the erection of the Pacific coast 
emporium of the fur trade, which was appropriately 
named Astoria. " Spring, usually so tardy in this 
latitude," says Franchere, " was already well advanced ; 
the foliage was budding, and the earth was clothing 
itself with verdure. We imagined ourselves in the 
garden of Eden." 

Fate of the Tonquin. On the 5th of June the Ton- 
quin left the river on her northern cruise in search of 
furs. 1 From this voyage she never returned, nor did 
a single one of the fated men who sailed in her from 
Astoria live to tell the gruesome story of the Tonquin' s 
destruction. That awful tale is known only from the 
report of a Gray's Harbour Indian, who was taken on 
board as an interpreter to the northern tribes, and who 
escaped death when the ship was blown to atoms, with 
several hundred natives on board, in the bay of Clay- 
oquot. 

The overland party ; Wilson Price Hunt. About 
the time of the Tonquin' s arrival on the Pacific coast 
another detachment of Astor's men was preparing to 
cross the continent by following the trail of Lewis 
and Clark. This company was under the direction of 

1 One of the partners, Mr. Alexander Mackay, was on board 
as chief trader. He was a former Northwest Company man, and 
had been the companion of Mackenzie on his famous journey to 
the Pacific in 1793. He was a man of ability, very popular among 
his associates, and his death in the Tonquin disaster was deeply 
lamented. 



72 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Mr. Wilson Price Hunt of New Jersey, an American 
partner, to whom Astor had confided the chief man- 
agement of the Pacific department of the fur trade. 
He collected most of his men in Canada, at Montreal 
and Mackinac, carrying them to St. Louis in the fall 
of 1810 in boats, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin 
rivers, and the Mississippi. They spent the winter in a 
camp near the frontier of settlement on the Missouri, 
and in March began the ascent of the river. 1 At the 
Aricara villages (near the present northern boundary 
of South Dakota) they learned that the Black foot In- 
dians were hostile, and therefore decided to leave the 
river, making their way overland with horses in a 
southwesterly direction, to the Big Horn and Wind 
River mountains. They crossed these ranges and en- 
tered the Green River valley. Passing over the divide 

1 Bradbury, an English naturalist, to whose " Travels in Amer- 
ica" we owe the preservation of many of the incidents of the trip 
as far as the Aricara villages, tells us (p. 16) : "On leaving Char- 
ette, Mr. Hunt pointed out to me an old man, standing on the 
bank, who he informed me was Daniel Boone, the discoverer of 
Kentucky. As I had a letter of introduction to him, from his 
nephew, Colonel Grant, I went ashore to speak to him. ... I 
remained for some time in conversation with him. He informed 
me that he was eighty-four years of age; that he had spent a 
considerable portion of his time alone in the backwoods, and had 
lately returned from his spring hunt with nearly sixty beaver 
skins." Irving, after reading this statement of Bradbury, sug- 
gested that the veteran woodsman probably felt a " throb of the 
old pioneer spirit, impelling him to shoulder his rifle and join the 
adventurous band." Though he failed to do so in person, his 
children crossed the Rockies, and we meet his name in both Ore- 
gon and California. 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 73 

to Snake River, they then decided to abandon their 
horses and take to canoes. This was an unfortunate 
error, for the stream soon, contrary to appearances, 
proved itself a true mountain torrent, threatening de- 
struction to both men and boats. They therefore left 
it (at the Cauldron Linn) and set out on foot, after 
breaking the company into smaller parties to make it 
easier to find game. The sufferings of these men, in 
their weary wanderings over the Snake River desert, 
are more easily imagined than described, although Mr. 
Irving, in his classic history of the Astoria enterprise, 
has succeeded in giving us some very vivid pictures. 
Hunt, with a section of the party, reached the Grand 
Ronde valley at the close of the year, and on the 1 5th 
of February arrived at Astoria. Some had already 
reached the fort; others straggled in from time to 
time, till nearly all were safe. 

Ship Beaver arrives, May 10, 181 2. Soon after 
this overland party reached the lower Columbia, Mr. 
Astor's ship, the Beaver, sent from New York in the 
fall of 181 1, anchored (May 10, 181 2) in the Colum- 
bia River with a cargo similar in all respects to that 
carried by the Tonquin the year before. The As- 
torians were greatly rejoiced. At last they had abun- 
dant supplies, new reinforcements of men, and every 
encouragement to carry the trade far up the rivers 
toward the sources of the Columbia. It began to look 
as if Astor's project might be grandly successful after 
all, despite the calamities which attended its beginnings. 

The Northwesters lose the race; David Thomp- 



74 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

son. In the preceding year, before the fort had been 
completed at the mouth of the river, a party of men 
prepared to ascend the Columbia for exploration and 
trade; but just as they were setting out (July 15), to 
the astonishment of the Americans, a canoe floating the 
British flag drew in to the shore at Astoria. A gen- 
tleman stepped ashore, and introduced himself as Mr. 
David Thompson, geographer of the Northwest Com- 
pany. He said that he had expected to reach the mouth 
of the river during the preceding fall, and had actually 
wintered west of the Rockies, but that owing to the 
desertion of some of his men it was impossible to carry 
out his plans. The Astorians believed it was his inten- 
tion to plant a fort for his company near the spot where 
their own establishment was rising, and in this they 
were doubtless correct. We now know, from Thomp- 
son's journal and other sources, that this indomitable 
British " pathfinder " had been on the Pacific slope 
several times prior to 181 1, the first time as early as 
June, 1807. In 1809 he founded a Northwest Com- 
pany fort at Lake Pend d'Oreille, and another in the 
Flathead country, on Clark's Fork. A still earlier es- 
tablishment was that on the Kootenai, and now there 
was also one on the Spokane River. The Americans 
saw at once that here was a formidable rival for the 
up-river trade; but they knew their advantage as the 
occupants of the lower Columbia, and determined if 
possible to drive their Montreal competitors across the 
Rockies. 

Fort Okanogan founded, 181 1. The delayed 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 75 

party, under David Stuart, one of Astor's partners, now 
set out up the river, accompanied as far as the Cas- 
cades by Thompson on his return. When Stuart's 
party reached the place where the Columbia and Snake 
rivers meet they found a pole stuck in the ground, and 
tightly bound around it a sheet of paper containing the 
proclamation : " Know hereby that this country is 
claimed by Great Britain as part of its territories, that 
the Northwest Company of Merchants from Canada, 
finding the Factory for this people inconvenient for 
them, do hereby intend to erect a factory in this place 
for the convenience of the country around. D. Thomp- 
son." Notwithstanding this announcement, or pos- 
sibly because of it, Stuart passed right on up the north 
branch to Okanogan River, where he established the 
first up-river fort for the Astor Company, and carried 
on a successful winter's trade. 1 

Expansion of trade in 18 12. When the Beaver ar- 
rived in 181 2, with men and supplies, the Astorians de- 
cided on a great forward movement to the interior. 
They proposed to go into the neighbourhood of every 
Northwest post and begin a rival establishment. Thus 
they planned a fort on the Spokane, with branch trad- 
ing houses on the Flathead (Clark's Fork) and Koote- 

1 Alexander Ross, one of the clerks, who spent most of the win- 
ter alone at Okanogan, while Stuart was exploring far to the 
north in the She Whaps country, tells us in his book, " The Fur 
Hunters of the Far West," that he bought fifteen hundred beaver, 
worth in Canton twenty-five hundred pounds, for goods worth, 
not to exceed thirty-five pounds. This he calls a " specimen of 
our trade among the Indians." 



76 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

nai rivers, and another in the She Whaps region. A 
third venture was to be made on Snake River, 
while the trade at Okanogan was to be continued. 1 
The Spokane project was in charge of Mr. Clark, David 
Stuart went back to Okanogan, and Mr. Donald 
M'Kenzie was sent up Snake River. Both Clark and 
Stuart, with their clerks and assistants at the branch 
stations, succeeded admirably in the trade of this sec- 
ond winter. M'Kenzie did nothing on the Snake, and 
by the middle of January was back at Astoria, with an 
alarming story which foreshadowed coming events. 

War news crosses the Rockies. While visiting 
Spokane House about the close of the year 1812, so 
M'Kenzie told the people at Astoria, Mr. John George 
M'Tavish, partner, of the Northwest Company, had 
arrived fresh from Montreal, with news that war had 
broken out between the United States and Great Brit- 
ain, and that the company was expecting an English 
warship to enter the Pacific and capture Astoria. At 
this time the fort was in charge of Donald M'Dougal, a 
Canadian like M'Kenzie, Hunt having sailed away the 
preceding summer in the Beaver, and being still absent. 
These two men weakly determined to abandon the Co- 
lumbia the following summer and cross the mountains ; 
but the other partners when they came down with their 

1 At the same time Mr. Robert Stuart was sent east with let- 
ters for Mr. Astor. His party became bewildered in the upper 
Snake River country, and were forced to winter on the plains, 
reaching St. Louis April 30, 1813, after being out nearly a year 
from Astoria. 



The Fur Trade on the Columbia 77 

furs in June (181 3) vetoed this plan, insisting on re- 
maining another winter if possible. M'Tavish de- 
scended the river with his men, spent much time about 
Astoria, and received needed supplies from the Ameri- 
cans, while he waited for the ship, which, as he declared, 
was daily expected. 

Movements of Mr. Hunt. Mr. Hunt sailed away 
in the Beaver on the 4th of August, 1812. He ran to 
Sitka, made a successful trade with the Russians, and 
then proceeded to the islands of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
where he received eighty thousand sealskins. By this 
time it was winter ; the vessel was much damaged, and 
all haste had to be made to get the valuable cargo to 
Canton. The Beaver, therefore, did not stop at the 
Columbia, but carried Hunt to Hawaii and continued 
on to China. Here the captain (Sowles) obtained 
news of the war, which sent him into hiding with his 
vessel till it was over. Hunt finally learned of the war 
in Hawaii and came to the Columbia in an American 
ship, the Albatross, reaching Astoria August 4, 181 3, 
after an absence of exactly one year. He learned that 
the partners were resolved to abandon the river, and 
while he opposed, he could not change the resolution. 
Still, hoping to save something, he sailed again in the 
Albatross to seek a vessel which might be available for 
the purpose of carrying away the goods and furs. 

Astoria sold, October 16, 181 3; taken by the 
Raccoon December 12 (or 13), 1813. At last, on 
the 1 6th of October, influenced by their fears if not by 
selfish motives, the partners sold Astoria and its be- 



78 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

longings, with all furs, supplies, and other property at 
the interior stations as well, to the Northwest Com- 
pany. One incident remains, and the story of Astoria 
is finished. " On the morning of the 30th " (Novem- 
ber), says Franchere, " we saw a large vessel standing 
in under Cape Disappointment; . . . she was the 
British sloop-of-war, Raccoon, of twenty-six guns, 
commanded by Captain Black." . . . The long looked- 
for British ship had come, and on the 12th of Decem- 
ber (Henry says the 13th) the American flag was 
hauled down at Astoria to make place for the Union 
Jack. The station itself was rechristened Fort George. 
More than two months later (February 28, 1814) Mr. 
Hunt appeared once more, in the brig Pedlar, pur- 
chased by him for the purpose of carrying away Astor's 
property. He was too late, and sailed away again, 
first to the north, then down the coast to California 
and Mexico. 1 

1 Most of the Canadian partners of Mr. Astor accepted posi- 
tions with the Northwest Company, as did also many of the clerks 
and labourers. A few, including Mr. Gabriel Franchere, went 
back to Canada overland in the spring of 1814, with the Northwest 
Company's express. Franchere's " Narrative," and two similar 
books, also by clerks of the Astor Company, A. Ross's " Fur 
Hunters of the Far West " and Ross Cox's " Adventures on the 
Columbia," are the principal sources for the history of the Astor 
enterprise. All of these have long been out of print. The 
" Henry-Thompson Journals," recently published, throw additional 
light on some phases of the history, and Irving's " Astoria " con- 
tains some matter taken from manuscript sources not now ac- 
cessible. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY 

Changes on the Columbia. When Mr. Hunt bade 
farewell to the Columbia (April 2, 18 14), he left the 
British rivals in full control not only of the fort at the 
mouth of the river, but of all the avenues of trade be- 
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, from Cali- 
fornia to Alaska. A few days later their first supply 
ship, the Isaac Todd, entered the river with a cargo 
containing everything necessary for the trade of the 
entire department. She also brought additional men, 
and these added to the list of Astorians already en- 
gaged, gave the Northwest Company a force sufficient 
to occupy the country at least as fully as Astor had 
done. They, however, made no important change in 
the trade for several years, till Donald M'Kenzie estab- 
lished the Walla Walla Fort ( 18 18), and began to send 
trapping parties along Snake River. This greatly ex- 
tended the area covered, and increased the profits in a 
marked degree. 

Union of the British fur companies, 1821. In 
1 82 1 a noteworthy change occurred in the fur trade 
of the British dominions. The Hudson Bay and 
Northwest companies, whose agents had long been 
destroying each other in their bitter contest for the 

79 



80 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

possession of the northern forests, were now united 
under the name of the Hudson Bay Company. 1 The 
dream of Alexander Mackenzie had been realized. 
From Montreal to Fort George, from Fort George to 
the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay, the wilderness 
traffic was at last organized under a single manage- 
ment, and carried on absolutely without competition, 
except where the British came in contact with Ameri- 
cans or Russians. York Factory on Hudson Bay was 
the eastern emporium, and the residence of the com- 
pany's governor, Sir George Simpson. The station 
near the mouth of the Columbia was to be the western 
emporium. 

Dr. McLoughlin builds Fort Vancouver, 1824- 
1825. In 1824 Dr. John McLoughlin, accompanied by 
Governor Simpson, arrived on the Columbia to take 
charge of the western department. One of their first 
steps was to abandon Fort George and to establish new 
headquarters at Point Vancouver. 2 Here was an ideal 
location for a trading centre. The Willamette, enter- 
ing the Columbia a short distance below, had its 
sources nearly two hundred miles to the south; the 
Cowlitz opened an avenue for trade toward Puget 
Sound ; while for the Columbia itself, breaking through 
the Cascades a few miles above Vancouver, the site was 

1 In 1816 actual war broke out in the Red River valley, where 
Lord Selkirk had established a colony for the Hudson Bay 
Company, across the path of the Northwesters. The union was 
brought about by the intercession of government officials. 

2 The point reached and so named by Lieut. Broughton of the 
Vancouver Expedition in October, 1792. 



The Hudson Bay Company 81 

the best that could be found. On a fine prairie about 
three quarters of a mile from the river, McLoughlin 
built the first Fort Vancouver, and occupied it in 
March, 1825. Four years later another establishment 
was built on the low ground near the river bank. It 
was simply a stockade made of posts about twenty feet 
in length, inclosing a rectangular space thirty-seven 
rods long by eighteen rods in width, which contained 
all the principal buildings, including Dr. McLoughlin's 
residence. The servants of the company, with their 
Indian families and friends, lived just outside, where 
in course of time a considerable village grew up. Such 
was the famous Fort Vancouver, round which clusters 
so much of the romance, as well as the more sober his- 
tory, of early Oregon. 1 Dr. McLoughlin remained in 
charge of the establishment for twenty-two years, man- 
aging the company's business with rare success; and 
by his firm control over the Indians of the entire Ore- 
gon country, his kindness and hospitality to American 
traders, missionaries, adventurers and colonists, richly 
deserving the title, " Father of Oregon," bestowed upon 
him by the pioneers. 

The fur trade at Vancouver. Vancouver was the 
clearing house for all the business west of the Rocky 
Mountains. Here the annual ships from London 
landed supplies and merchandise, which were placed in 
warehouses to await the departure of the boat brigades 

X A fascinating picture of life at this western emporium of 
the fur trade is given by Mrs. Eva Emery Dye in her " Mc- 
Loughlin and Old Oregon." 



82 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

for the interior; here was the great fur house, where 
the peltries were brought together from scores of 
smaller forts and trading camps, scattered through a 
wilderness empire of half a million square miles. 
They came from St. James, Langley, and Kamloops 
in the far northwest ; from Umpqua in the south ; from 
Walla Walla, Colville, Spokane, Okanogan, and many 
other places in the upper portions of the great valley. 
Hundreds of trappers followed the water courses 
through the gloomy forests and into the most dangerous 
fastnesses of the mountains, in order to glean the 
annual beaver crop for delivery to these substations. 

Profits of the western trade. The Hudson Bay 
Company is still engaged in business and the books of 
these early years are a part of its business files. They 
are not, and have never been, opened freely to the re- 
searches of scholars. Such information as we have 
respecting the profits of the Company's western fur 
trade has leaked out almost accidentally and we are still 
waiting for facts which the Company's records alone 
can fully reveal. In a letter written by McLoughlin 
to the Company in 1845 — his "Last Letter" 1 — 
Simpson is quoted as saying that the accounts from 
that field, which show the profits of the three years, 
1 84 1, 1842, and 1843 to be £22,974, £16,982, and 
£21,726 respectively are not accurate. He, in fact, 
figures for those years a net loss of over £5000, which 
looks on its face unreasonable. We have no means of 

1 Edited by Katherine B. Judson. See Am. Historical Review, 
XXI, pp. 127. 




1-1 



> 



pE, 



The Hudson Bay Company 83 

checking him. Assuming that the accounts presented 
by McLoughlin were correct, the net annual profit 
amounted in those years to a sum ranging from $80,- 
000 to $115,000. In 1828 a visitor to Vancouver, the 
American trader Jedediah Smith, reported that Mc- 
Loughlin had received during the year thirty thousand 
beaver skins worth $250,000, besides a large quantity 
of other furs. 

Agriculture. Aside from the fur trade, which was 
the principal business, Vancouver was also the centre 
of other activities. By 1828 a fine farm had been 
opened on the prairie about the fort, and fields of wheat, 
oats, corn, peas, and barley flourished in the rich soil of 
this favoured locality. As the years passed, more and 
more land was brought under cultivation, until the farm 
aggregated several thousand acres, " fenced into beau- 
tiful corn fields, vegetable fields, orchards, gardens, and 
pasture fields, . . . interspersed with dairy houses, 
shepherds' and herdsmen's cottages." 1 

Livestock at Fort Vancouver. In 18 14 the North- 
west Company's ship Isaac Todd brought to the Colum- 
bia from California four head of Spanish cattle. The 
Astor people had brought a few hogs from Hawaii and 
they also had several goats. These were the beginnings 
of the livestock interests of the Pacific Northwest. The 
increase up to the time Dr. McLoughlin took control 
was by no means extraordinary, the cattle numbering, 
according to McLoughlin, only twenty-seven head in 

1 Quoted from Dunn, " The Oregon Territory and the British 
North American Fur Trade," Philadelphia, 1845, p. 107. 



84 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

1825. McLoughlin, however, took steps at once to 
build up the herds and the flocks. He forbade the 
slaughtering of cattle * at that time and he says that the 
first beef was killed in 1838. By that time the native 
increase had brought up the herd to several hundred 
head and purchases of California cattle had increased 
it still more. Pigs, sheep, goats, and horses likewise 
became plentiful on the Vancouver ranges. 

McLoughlin, while refusing to sell cattle, cheerfully 
loaned cows and oxen to the settlers and he also fur- 
nished work cattle to the Missions. 

Grain raising. On taking possession of Vancouver 
fort, planting and sowing of grain became at once a 
fixed policy. The first year potatoes and peas only 
were grown. The second year McLoughlin procured 
and sowed small quantities each of wheat, corn, oats, 
barley, and timothy, all crops doing well except the 
corn. By 1828 he says the quantity of wheat raised 
was sufficient for the needs of the establishment. 

French farmers in Oregon; American wheat 
raisers. In 1829 Etienne Lucier, a servant of the 
Hudson Bay Company, received assistance in seed and 
food supplies, cattle, etc., to begin farming in the 
Willamette Valley. Other servants of the company 
followed, until by 1843 some fifty families were living 
on French Prairie near the present town of Woodburn, 
and a few others were scattered here and there over 
the valley plain. When American settlers began to 
arrive they, too, were helped to become farmers and 

1 Except one bull calf each year for rennet to make cheese. 



The Hudson Bay Company 85 

wheat raisers, all agreeing to return the loans of seed 
grain in wheat and usually agreeing to sell their surplus 
to the Company at a fixed price. 

The Fort was the market for all. The Company 
maintained a flouring mill, where settlers could have 
their wheat ground. Beginning in the year 1839, it 
supplied grain and flour regularly, under contract, to 
the Russian American Fur Company in Alaska. It 
also shipped to the Hawaiian Islands. McLoughlin 
estimated the export of flour for 1846 at 6,000 barrels, 
in addition to a cargo of wheat for Alaska. 

Lumber and other exports; merchandise. Be- 
sides shipping grain and flour, the company sold lumber 
sawed in their mill near Vancouver, also salmon taken 
in the lower Columbia. They also supplied from their 
store at Vancouver and a branch store at Willamette 
Falls all kinds of merchandise and other supplies re- 
quired by their servants, ex-servants, and the American 
settlers. New settlers received credit usually to the 
extent of their need until they could raise a crop of 
wheat, from the surplus of which the year's accounts 
were settled. 

Mechanics. The fort had its mechanics, represent- 
ing all the ordinary trades. There were besides farm- 
ers, gardeners and dairymen, smiths, carpenters, tin- 
ners, millwrights, coopers, and a baker, and all were 
kept fully occupied. The carpenters built boats for the 
river trade and even several coasting vessels. The 
coopers made barrels for shipping flour and salted 
salmon. 



86 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Social life at Vancouver. Although business was 
the first consideration at Vancouver, and Dr. McLough- 
lin would tolerate no idlers, yet, on the whole, life was 
pleasant there. The officers were nearly all well-edu- 
cated gentlemen, who enjoyed good living, books, and 
agreeable company. Their dining hall at Vancouver 
was not merely a place where the tables were supplied 
with good food, but the scene of bright, intelligent con- 
versation, conducted with perfect propriety, and pleas- 
ing to the most refined guests. The wives of the offi- 
cers were usually half-caste women, yet in many cases 
they are said to have been excellent housekeepers and 
good mothers. They and their children did not eat 
with the men, but had tables in a separate hall. In 
other respects home life was much as it is in ordinary 
communities. The children spent most of the summer 
season out of doors, engaging in all manner of sports, 
and gaining special skill in horsemanship. In the win- 
ter a school was often maintained at the fort. 1 Re- 
ligious services were conducted on the Sabbath, either 
by McLoughlin himself or by some visiting missionary 
or priest. The village had its balls, regattas, and other 
amusements, rendering it a place of much gaiety, espe- 
cially about June, when the brigades of boats arrived 
with the up-river traders, and their crews of jovial, pic- 
turesque French voyageurs. 

Monopoly methods ; relations with settlers. The 

1 John Ball, a New England man who came with Wyeth in 

1832, taught the first school at Vancouver in the winter of 1832- 

1833. He raised a crop of wheat in the Willamette valley in the 
summer of 1833. 



The Hudson Bay Company 87 

Hudson Bay Company was a monopoly not only in 
theory but in practice. It fixed its own prices for 
goods sold to settlers, usually charging one hundred 
per cent, on London prices, 1 and it paid for the settlers' 
wheat what it chose. In 1845 tne price was sixty cents 
per bushel in trade. In both cases the price was prob- 
ably as nearly fair as could be expected, but the feeling 
that they were at the Company's mercy was sure to 
make the American settlers impatient, critical, or even 
violently antagonistic to the Company. Had it not 
been for the respect universally felt for Dr. McLough- 
lin, this condition might easily have degenerated into a 
state of open hostility, with the possibility of bloodshed 
and serious international complications. In fact, only 
two or three Americans ever tried to molest the Com- 
pany directly, and in these cases the public opinion of 
the colony was exerted successfully in the interest of 
harmony. On the whole, it must be admitted that Fort 
Vancouver was indispensable to the American settlers, 
was in fact the condition of Oregon's early coloniza- 
tion. Without it, the country must have remained a 
wilderness until similar establishments had been 
founded by Americans or others. If Astor's trading 
venture had proved successful, Astoria would logically 
have occupied the place in Oregon history which Van- 
couver now occupies. Yet, it is doubtful if an Ameri- 
can company could have served better the needs of such 
a colony. 

1 Although these prices were reduced when competition de- 
manded it. 



CHAPTER VII 

EARLY PHASES OF THE OREGON QUESTION 

At the conclusion of the War of 1812 the Columbia 
River region might have passed at once into the hands 
of Mr. Astor, for fur trading purposes, had it not been 
for a series of delays which gave the British company 
opportunity to establish itself firmly. 

Astor continues to be interested in the Columbia. 
Mr. Astor in 181 3 advised the government concerning 
the progress of his business on the Columbia and 
pointed out that if the government had granted him 
military support, even to a slight extent, Astoria could 
have been held against a British attack by sea. It was 
doubtless due to Mr. Astor's warnings that in March, 
1 8 14, the government instructed our peace commis- 
sioners to keep the Columbia fort in mind when dis- 
cussing the terms of a treaty with Great Britain. In 
case that place had been captured during the war, and 
in case the commissioners could agree on a treaty clause 
restoring to each nation places and possessions taken by 
either party during the war, then the post at the mouth 
of the Columbia ought to be restored. Secretary of 
State Monroe in writing the instructions expressed the 
view that Britain had no right to any territory what- 
ever on the Pacific coast, and he asserted roundly: 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 89 

" On no pretext can the British Government set up a 
claim to territory south of the northern boundary of the 
United States." * 

While the commissioners were carrying on their ne- 
gotiations at Ghent, a gentleman who represented Mr. 
Astor was at hand eager to learn what would be done 
and finally what was done about the Columbia River 
fort. He stated that if its restoration was agreed 
upon, it was Mr. Astor's intention to reoccupy it at 
once and resume the trade. 2 

What the treaty stipulated. The treaty did not 
mention Astoria specifically, but it provided, in general 
terms, that : " All territory, places, and possessions 
whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during 
the war, . . . (should) be restored without delay. . . ." 
Mr. Astor seems to have thought that since his fort on 
the Columbia had been taken possession of by a British 
warship, the Northwest Company should now be com- 
pelled to give it up, without regard to the fact that, 
before the warship arrived, his partners had accepted 
from that company a sum of money in payment for the 
fort and its appurtenances. 

Restoration of Astoria demanded. In July, 18 15, 
six months after the signing of the treaty, Monroe as 
Secretary of State gave notice to the British govern- 

x Am. State Papers, III, 731. Monroe was especially concerned 
for the safety of the Mississippi and the upper Louisiana territory, 
where earlier negotiations had failed to establish a definite bound- 
ary between American and British territory. He probably cared 
little for the Columbia region for its own sake. 

2 J. Q. Adams's Memoirs, XI. 



90 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ment that the United States expected to reoccupy the 
Columbia under the treaty, but two years elapsed before 
any definite step was taken. The delay may have been 
due to Mr. Astor, for it is almost certain that the gov- 
ernment was merely trying to clear the way for his re- 
occupation of Astoria. But in September, 1817, the 
ship Ontario, Captain Biddle, was ordered to the 
Columbia to " assert the claim of the United States to 
the (Columbia) country in a friendly and peaceable 
manner. . . ." 

British claims stated. When the British minister 
at Washington, Mr. Charles Bagot, learned about the 
orders given Captain Biddle he protested to J. Q. 
Adams, Secretary of State. Astoria was not one of 
the " places and possessions " referred to in the treaty, 
since the fort had been purchased by British subjects 
before the Raccoon entered the river. Nor was the 
Columbia valley " territory . . . taken . . . during 
the war " ; it was rather a region " early taken posses- 
sion of in His Majesty's name, and considered as 
forming part of His Majesty's dominions." * This 
was the formal opening of the Oregon Question, which 
required nearly a generation for its settlement, and at 
one time threatened to bring on a war. 

The Northwest Company interested. It is inter- 
esting to find that, just as the American government 
was acting in these matters at the behest of Mr. Astor, 

1 It was claimed that Lieutenant Broughton took formal pos- 
session of the Columbia country when he entered the river in 
October, 1792. 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 91 

so the British government was acting under the impulse 
supplied by the Northwest Company. That govern- 
ment, indeed, knew nothing about the situation at the 
mouth of the Columbia except what it learned from the 
Northwest Company partners, especially Simon Mc- 
Gillivray, who resided generally in London and had 
charge of the outfitting of the company's ships. It was 
McGillivray who learned in some way to us unknown 
that Captain Biddle of the Ontario had orders to sail 
to the Columbia and it was he who furnished Mr. Bagot 
that exciting piece of news; he also furnished Bagot 
the history of the British claim to the Columbia on 
which he based his protest to Mr. Adams. 1 We glean 
from McGillivray that the Northwest Company had 
planned in 1810 to take possession of the mouth of the 
Columbia but that they were delayed by government red 
tape until it was too late because Astor had forestalled 
them. When the war broke out, however, they per- 
suaded the admiralty to send a warship to the Colum- 
bia to capture Astoria while the company sent the Isaac 
Todd to begin their establishment. 

Excitement over the Ontario's mission. The 
sending of the Ontario created a decided sensation. 
The British minister wrote in some alarm to his govern- 
ment, and for the moment it looked as if a serious issue 
might be made of the incident. Lord Castlereagh, 

1 McGillivray's " Statement Relative to the Columbia River," 
etc. was found with Bagot's dispatch No. 74, Public Record Of- 
fice, F. O. America 123. The McGillivray statement abounds in 
errors, but it was all that Bagot had to guide his course. 



92 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

however, the British Foreign Secretary, found reasons 
of policy for conceding the right of the United States 
to be placed in possession of Astoria, under the treaty 
of Ghent, although he refused to concede the American 
right to the territory. He therefore offered to restore 
the post, and suggested that the question of title to the 
territory, together with other differences between the 
two countries, be submitted to arbitration. 

Astoria formally restored. John Quincy Adams 
was quick to accept the offer of the restoration of As- 
toria, which was turned over by the Northwest Com- 
pany to Mr. J. B. Prevost on the 6th of October, 1818. 
But Mr. Adams refused the offer of arbitration, believ- 
ing that direct negotiation was a surer way of gaining 
American rights. 

The joint occupation treaty. Two weeks after the 
formal restoration of Astoria, on October 20, 18 18, 
representatives of the two nations signed at London a 
treaty in which the Oregon Question was mentioned but 
not settled. The questions at issue, besides the Colum- 
bia territory question, were the rights of Great Britain 
to navigate the Mississippi, and the northern boundary 
of Louisiana from the Lake of the Woods to the crest 
of the Rockies. Great Britain at last abandoned her 
claim to the Mississippi, and was therefore willing to 
permit the boundary to be extended westward on the 
forty-ninth parallel from the Lake of the Woods to 
the Rockies. But she refused to extend that line of 
boundary from the Rockies to the sea, as the United 
States suggested, which would have settled the Oregon 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 93 

Question at one stroke. Instead the two governments 
agreed upon a clause which subjected the Oregon coun- 
try to a " joint-occupation " for ten years by citizens 
and subjects of both nations. This meant simply that 
Americans and Englishmen had equal right to trade 
and settle in any part of the country, but that neither 
the one party nor the other could have absolute control 
over any part of it till the question of ownership, or of 
boundary, was settled. 

Cession of Spanish rights to the United States. 
This treaty of joint occupation also professed to safe- 
guard the rights of other nations. This was necessary, 
because at the time neither Spain nor Russia had 
formally yielded up their respective claims to territory 
in that region. But it so happened that J. Q. Adams 
at that moment was engaged in negotiating a treaty 
with Spain concerning Florida and he made use of his 
opportunity to gain an additional basis of title to the 
Columbia region. It had been proposed that Spain and 
the United States should agree on boundaries west of 
the Mississippi, defining the Louisiana purchase to the 
Rocky Mountains. In connection with that proposal, 
on October 31, 18 18, only eleven days after the date of 
the treaty with Britain, Adams demanded that Spain 
agree to draw a boundary line also from the Rocky 
Mountains to the Pacific. This was done, the forty- 
second parallel being taken, and each of the two con- 
tracting nations agreeing to abandon to the other all 
claims and pretensions they had to territory north and 
south of that line respectively. 



94 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Its importance. Adams regarded this as a great 
diplomatic triumph. 1 No doubt it had a certain im- 
portance. In the negotiation with Britain the Ameri- 
can commissioners were somewhat at a loss to produce 
satisfactory arguments in support of their claim to the 
coast to the northward of the Columbia, however easy- 
it was to maintain a claim to the valley of the river 
itself. Gray had discovered the river, Lewis and 
Clark explored from its fountains to the sea, and Mr. 
Astor took possession at its mouth, holding the terri- 
tory firmly until the war compelled him to retire. But 
all of this gave no direct claim to territory outside the 
Columbia basin and we were asking for a boundary 
along the forty-ninth parallel to the sea. 

The new American argument. After the treaty 
with Spain Americans could insist, as they did, that 
since the first exploration of the coast line, well up be- 
yond the fiftieth parallel, had been made by Spain, 
whose rights we now held, and since the Columbia 
River, discovered, explored, and first occupied by Amer- 
icans, had some of its sources in these high latitudes 
also, we were not merely within our rights in demand- 
ing the forty-ninth parallel boundary, but the offer of 
that line might be looked upon as a very generous con- 
cession to Great Britain. 

Settlement with Russia. The Russian claim, which 
was based originally on the discoveries of Vitus Bering 
and Tchirikoff, on the occupation of Alaska by Russian 
fur traders, and on a grant of trade and settlement 

1 Adams's Memoirs, IV, 275. 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 95 

privileges to the Russian American Fur Company char- 
tered in 1799, was likewise indefinite and had at times a 
tendency to advance in a menacing manner. However, 
soon after the conclusion of the Florida treaty, the 
American government began negotiations with Russia 
and after some delays, in 1824, a treaty of limits was 
secured. By this instrument it was agreed that Russian 
subjects would not push their activities, in trade and 
settlement, below the line of the parallel of fifty-four 
degrees and forty minutes, and that American citizens 
should not operate to the north of that line. The next 
year a similar agreement was entered into between 
Great Britain and Russia, the boundary between the 
northern territories of the two nations being fixed at 
the same time. 1 

On many accounts it seems most unfortunate that 
Great Britain and the United States failed in 181 8 to 
dispose of the Oregon Question by agreeing on the 
forty-ninth parallel. Had they done so, no other power 
would have entered to disturb the arrangement, and it 
would have saved the two interested nations a long and 
acrimonious contest. Possibly a more strenuous atti- 
tude on our part might have brought about a satisfac- 
tory solution. But our government was not prepared 
to act with vigour, and was unwilling also to risk a 

1 It was the treaty of 1825 between Russia and Great Britain 
which defined the boundary of Alaska on the land side, as it is to- 
day. Russia held the great peninsula west to the 141st meridian 
of longitude, and a coast strip thirty miles wide extending to lati- 
tude 54°4o". 



g6 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

failure to settle the Louisiana boundary for the sake of 
its claims on the Columbia. 

Lack of interest in Oregon, except among Astor's 
connections; John Floyd's first report on Oregon. 
The truth is, that in 1818 very few Americans had the 
slightest interest in the region west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Bryant wrote of it, in 1817, as, — 

" The continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound 
Save his own dashings." 1 

So far as we know, those who had been directly or indi- 
rectly interested in the Astor enterprise were the only 
agitators for the adoption of an Oregon policy by the 
government. Some of the Astor partners, it appears, 
were in touch with Representative John Floyd of Vir- 
ginia at Washington. 2 Possibly their accounts of 
Oregon aroused his interest in the country as a valuable 
future possession of the United States. At all events, 
on the 20th of December, 1820, Mr. Floyd brought the 
question forward for the first time in the Congress 
of the United States. He wished " to inquire into the 
situation of the settlements on the Pacific Ocean, and 
the expediency of occupying the Columbia River." 
One month later, Floyd, at the head of a committee of 

1 Because of the popularity of Bryant's " Thanatopsis " in 
which the lines occur, the name Oregon was brought prominently 
before the public. Bryant doubtless obtained it from Carver's 
Travels. 

2 See Bourne, E. G. Aspects of Oregon History Previous to 
1840. Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. IV, p. 255. 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 97 

Congress, made a report on the subject of our rights 
west of the Rockies. 1 

The first congressional debate on Oregon; 
Floyd's speech. It was many months before Floyd 
was able to get a hearing; but in 1822 he brought in 
another bill which aroused much interest in Congress 
and drew the attention of the country to the Oregon 
question. In the debate which occurred Floyd took the 
leading part. He was one of those men who have the 
power of looking beyond the present, and seeing in 
imagination the changes likely to occur in future years. 
Though he lived in Virginia, Floyd knew what was go- 
ing on beyond the mountains, and was thrilled by the 
spectacle of America's wonderful growth, which he be- 
lieved, rightly or wrongly, to be due largely to her free 
system of government. In the space of forty-three 
years, he said, Virginia's population had spread west- 
ward more than a thousand miles. He evidently be- 
lieved it would not be long before Americans would 
reach the Rockies, and stand ready to descend into the 
Oregon country. This was a new thought, just be- 
ginning to take hold of the American people, and as 
yet quite startling to most men who, in spite of what 

1 This report, which is reprinted in the Quarterly of the Ore- 
gon Historical Society, VIII, 51-75, contains the first general dis- 
cussion of Oregon and the Oregon Question from the American 
point of view. The bill for the creation of an Oregon Territory, 
which followed, fixed the name Oregon upon the country. Many 
things contained in the report cannot be accepted as impartial his- 
tory, but the writer was more concerned with the future than 
with the past, and it certainly held the prophecy of great things. 



98 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

had already been done, found it difficult to conceive 
of the American population expanding till it should 
reach the Pacific. But he only hinted at these things, 
knowing very well that most members of Congress 
would regard predictions of this kind as the merest 
folly. 

Floyd's argument. Floyd's main argument had to 
do with the importance of the Columbia River to Amer- 
ican commerce. Our people ought to have the benefit 
of the fur trade now going to British subjects; many 
whalers from New England annually visited the Oregon 
coast and needed some safe port in which to refit and 
take supplies; the trade with China would be greatly 
advanced by maintaining a colony on the Pacific. He 
tried to show that the Missouri and Columbia together 
would form a good highway for commerce across the 
continent, and that the entire distance between St. 
Louis and Astoria could be traversed with steamboat 
and wagon in the space of forty-four days. 

Mr. Bailies's remarkable predictions. Other 
speakers also urged the commercial importance of a 
fort at the mouth of the Columbia. Mr. Bailies of 
Massachusetts declared that in all probability there 
would one day be a canal connecting the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans, which would be an added reason for 
maintaining a colony on the Pacific. Most persons 
feared that Americans going to this distant land would 
separate from us and set up a government for them- 
selves; but Mr. Bailies pointed out that such a canal 
would bind them closely to us. Yet, if they should 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 99 

form an independent American state on the Pacific, 
even this would be better than to have that region pass 
into the hands of foreigners, or be left a savage wilder- 
ness. " I would delight," said the speaker, " to know 
that in this desolate spot, where the prowling cannibal 
now lurks in the forest, hung round with human bones 
and with human scalps, the temples of justice and the 
temples of God were reared, and man made sensible of 
the beneficent intentions of his creator." The country, 
he said, had made marvellous progress within the mem- 
ories of living men, and with the fervour of an ancient 
prophet he continued : " Some now within these walls 
may, before they die, witness scenes more wonderful 
than these; and in after times may cherish delightful 
recollections of this day, when America, almost shrink- 
ing from the ' shadows of coming events,' first placed 
her feet upon untrodden ground, scarcely daring to 
anticipate the greatness which awaited her." 

The practical man's view of the Oregon question. 
To show how the hard-headed, practical men compris- 
ing the majority in Congress treated such idealists as 
Floyd and Bailies, we have only to turn to the opposi- 
tion speech of Mr. Tracy of New York. He declared 
that there was no real demand for a fort and colony on 
the Columbia. No one had shown that it would benefit 
commerce. It was visionary to expect an overland 
commercial connection with the Pacific Ocean. Mili- 
tary posts ought not to be used to draw population far 
away into the wilderness, but merely to protect the 
frontier. Mr. Tracy had received accurate in forma- 



ioo A History of the Pacific Northwest 

tion about the territory along the Columbia, from men 
who had visited that region, and was sure that its agri- 
cultural possibilities had been greatly overestimated. 
As a final agrument, he declared that the people on the 
Pacific and those on the Atlantic could never live under 
the same government. " Nature," said Mr. Tracy, 
" has fixed limits for our nation ; she has kindly inter- 
posed as our western barrier mountains almost inac- 
cessible, whose base she has skirted with irreclaimable 
deserts of sand." J 

Defeat of Floyd's bill. On the 23d of January, 
1823, after a long and vigorous debate, Floyd's bill 
came to a vote in the House of Representatives and 
was defeated, one hundred to sixty-one. The time had 
not yet come for an American colony on the Pacific, be- 
cause the government was unwilling to plant such a 
settlement, and the people were not yet thinking of 
Oregon as a " pioneer's land of promise." Only a few 
men, and those of the rarer sort, looked forward to the 
occupation of the Columbia region as a step toward the 
establishment of a greater America, with a frontage on 
the Pacific Ocean similar to that which we then had 
upon the Atlantic. 

Strangely enough none of the speakers in the House 
seemed to suspect that we might not have a right, under 
the treaty of joint occupation, to plant a military colony 
at the mouth of the Columbia, or that Great Britain 

1 From the time of Long's exploring expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains (1819), the western portion of the Great Plains was 
called the " Great American Desert." 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question ioi 

had an actual claim to the country which was protected 
by that treaty. Only one man appeared to understand 
the situation clearly, Senator Benton of Missouri. He 
believed that if the British remained in sole possession 
of Oregon till 1828, the year that the treaty of joint 
occupation was to expire, they would remain for a still 
longer period ; and in a speech in the Senate he 
favoured an American colony on the Columbia as a 
means of maintaining our rights in the country. 

Diplomatic negotiations resumed. We must now 
turn from Congress where Oregon bills were brought 
up almost every session, till the end of 1827, and see 
what was being done for Oregon elsewhere. In 1824, 
stimulated by the agitation in Congress, and taking ad- 
vantage of the fact that other matters were pressing for 
settlement between Great Britain and the United States, 
our government sought a new diplomatic negotiation 
on the Oregon question. 

The British government had carefully avoided the 
question since 1818. The reason doubtless was that 
since British traders were in monopolistic control of the 
fur trade of the Columbia, it was good policy to leave 
the boundary question in abeyance as long as possible, 
for so long as Americans failed to take advantage 
of their rights under the treaty of joint occupa- 
tion the British claim was in no danger of becoming 
weaker. 

Basis of the American claim. Mr. Adams, in in- 
structing Richard Rush, American minister at London, 
to bring up the Oregon question, described the Ameri- 



102 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

can claim " to the Columbia river and the interior terri- 
tory washed by its waters," as resting (i) upon Gray's 
discovery and naming of the river; (2) Lewis and 
Clark's exploration; (3) the Astoria settlement, and the 
restoration of Astoria in 1818; (4) the acquisition of 
the Spanish title. Spain, he held, was the only Euro- 
pean power who had any territorial rights on the north- 
west coast prior to the discovery of the river itself. 
The river was supposed to rise as far north as the fifty- 
first parallel, giving us a good right to territory up to 
that line. But, since the forty-ninth parallel had been 
already adopted to the Rockies, he was willing to ex- 
tend that boundary west to the Pacific. 

Canning's Oregon policy. At the time of the ne- 
gotiation of 1824 the brilliant and not always amiable 
George Canning was British foreign secretary. Can- 
ning disliked Mr. Adams personally, and besides, for 
reasons of policy, he was in no mood to humour him 
in the Oregon matter. Accordingly, when he learned 
the extent of the American claims, Mr. Canning wrote 
the famous dispatch of May 31, 1824, to the British 
commissioners, which established the British Oregon 
policy for many years to come on a basis that made 
agreement with the United States impossible. Briefly 
stated, that policy was to claim ( 1 ) an equal right with 
the United States and all other powers to make use of 
the entire territory from 42 ° to 54°4o'. This right 
was based on the fact that when Spain tried to exclude 
Britain from Nootka Sound in 1789- 1790 Great Brit- 
ain, at the risk of war, compelled Spain to recognize 



Early Phases of the Oregon Question 103 

the equal right of her subjects to trade and make settle- 
ments in any part of the country north of California. 

(2) A willingness to agree on a division of the territory 
with the United States, then the only power aside from 
Britain which had real interests there, on " the joint 
principles of occupancy and reciprocal convenience." 

(3) Canning repelled the idea that Britain should give 
up the portion of the coast line containing Nootka 
Sound, since that place was the subject of dispute with 
Spain which led to the Nootka Convention of 1790, a 
great victory for British policy. (4) But he was still 
more determined not to give up the free use of the 
Columbia, " the only navigable communication, 
hitherto ascertained to exist, with the interior of that 
part of the country. The entrance to this river," he 
says, " was surveyed by British officers, at the expense 
of the British government, many years before any 
agents of the American government had visited its 
shores, 1 and the trading posts of the Hudson's Bay 
Company are now and have for some time been sta- 
tioned on its waters." (5) The Americans, Canning 
points out, are claiming under a French title, a Spanish 
title, and an American title, and they are supplying the 
deficiencies of each one of these titles by arguments 
drawn from the others. This could not be permitted. 
They might select the title they deemed best, and stand 

1 Canning did not recognize Gray, the discoverer of the river, 
as an agent of the American government, so Lewis and Clark 
would be the first of those agents, arriving thirteen years after 
Vancouver. 



104 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

upon that, but must not attempt to use all three at the 
same time. 

Results of the negotiations of 1824 and 1826. 
The result of Canning's attitude was, of course, the 
failure of the negotiations in 1824. Two years later 
Gallatin, our ablest and best known diplomatist, was 
sent to London to settle this question, with others. But 
the Canning policy stood athwart the path again and 
all the argumentation used, much of it able and vigor- 
ous, was in effect a mere process of marking time. 
Things must happen to change the general situation of 
the two countries relative to Oregon before a boundary 
could be fixed. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 

The West about 1820. In 1800 the region west of 
the Alleghenies had a population of about three hun- 
dred and twenty-five thousand. Twenty years later, 
when Mr. Floyd and a few others began to dream about 
expansion to the Pacific, the West already contained 
more than two million people, nearly one-tenth of whom 
(two hundred thousand) were living beyond the Mis- 
sissippi. The country had entered upon a period of 
marvellous growth. Many thousands of emigrants 
were crossing the mountains each year, forests were 
levelled as if by a sort of magic, and a single season 
often saw great stretches of wild prairie transformed 
into fields of wheat and corn. In such pioneer states as 
Indiana and Illinois the wild game was rapidly disap- 
pearing from the river valleys as new settlers entered 
to make clearings and build homes. Many of the rude 
hamlets of twenty years before had given place to pro- 
gressive and wealthy towns, thriving upon the business 
of the growing communities about them. Louisville, 
Cincinnati, New Orleans, and St. Louis had already be- 
come places of note, and controlled the commerce of 
the West much as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and 
Baltimore dominated the eastern section of the United 

105 



106 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

States. The western rivers were alive with noisy little 
steamboats, one of which had recently ascended the 
Missouri to the mouth of Platte River. 1 Roads were 
being opened everywhere, and the Erie Canal was under 
construction from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 
The frontier of settlement was in the western part of 
Missouri, whence a trail had already been opened to 
Santa Fe, while others led far into the great plains 
toward the west and northwest. 

The American fur trade of the far west. 2 Beyond 
the frontiers the trapper hunted the beaver streams, 
and the trader carried his tempting wares to the Indian 
villages, much as they had done twenty, fifty, or a hun- 
dred years before. Yet in some respects great changes 
had occurred in the western fur trade. From the time 
of Lewis and Clark's return and the opening of the 
Missouri River country, American traders had shown 
a strong disposition to organize for the better regulation 
of the business. The Missouri Fur Company, founded 
in 1808 for the purpose of controlling the trade of the 
Missouri River, was the pioneer of such associations in 
the United States, and it soon made St. Louis a great 
fur-trading centre. 3 But, while reasonably successful 

1 The Western Engineer, employed as part of Long's exploring 
equipment in 1819. 

2 Under the above title Captain H. M. Chittenden has recently 
given us a remarkably complete, accurate, and interesting history 
of the fur trade throughout the great region west of the Missis- 
sippi. His book, which cost years of patient research, was pub- 
lished in 1902 (3 vols.). 

3 Astor tried to combine with this company, but was unable to 
do so. 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 107 

elsewhere, this company did not succeed after all in 
gaining commercial possession of the upper Missouri, 
because of the Black foot Indians who were persistently 
hostile. In 1822 a new company was organized at St. 
Louis by General William H. Ashley, whose plan in the 
beginning was to establish trading posts at favourable 
points on the upper Missouri, like the mouth of the 
Yellowstone, and keep agents in the country. The 
Black feet, however, could not be pacified, and this 
method had to be given up. Ashley then adopted the 
policy of sending bands of trappers to form camps in 
the best beaver districts, and trap out the streams one 
after another. 

American trappers cross the Rockies. Under 
leaders like David Jackson and William L. Sub- 
lette, these parties not only gathered the fur har- 
vest of some of the Missouri fields, but traversed the 
country for great distances to the southwest, far into 
the Rocky Mountains. Finally they entered the region 
tributary to the Columbia, and came into competition 
with the traders and trappers of the Hudson's Bay 
Company. 1 It was the clashing of skirmishers. Be- 
hind the one party was a powerful commercial organ- 

1 Several instances are recorded of American trapping com- 
panies getting the advantage of British parties in some way and 
securing their furs. In 1825 General Ashley got possession, for a 
trifling sum, of about seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of Hud- 
son's Bay furs. We do not know exactly how these peculiar feats 
of wilderness commerce were performed, though it is pretty cer- 
tain that the free use of whisky upon opposition trappers was one 
of the means employed. 



108 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ization, and a proud but distant government jealous of 
their legal rights; behind the other was a rapidly ex- 
panding nation, whose people would one day be pre- 
pared to follow the traders across the Rockies, and plant 
American colonies on the coasts of the South Sea. 

Wanderings of Jedediah S. Smith. In 1826 Gen- 
eral Ashley turned over his business to Jedediah S. 
Smith, David Jackson, and William L. Sublette. The 
first of these (Smith) immediately set out from their 
Rocky Mountain camp and with a few men crossed the 
desert and mountains to California, arriving at San 
Diego in October, 1826. He remained in the country 
during the winter, and the following summer returned 
to Salt Lake. In spite of severe sufferings on his first 
trip, Smith went back to California the same season, 
losing most of his men at the hands of the Mojave In- 
dians. In California he got together a new party, and 
in 1828 crossed the mountains northward to Oregon. 
On the Umpqua River his company was attacked by the 
Indians and all except the leader and three others were 
killed. Smith also lost his entire catch of furs, his 
horses, and other property, so that when he arrived at 
Fort Vancouver (August, 1828) he was in desperate 
straits. Dr. McLoughlin received him kindly, sup- 
plied all his needs, and even sent men to the Umpqua to 
recover the furs stolen by the savages. Nearly all were 
secured, and these McLoughlin purchased at the market 
price, giving the American trader a draft on London 
for the amount, which he says was three thousand dol- 
lars. From Vancouver Smith went up the Columbia 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 109 

to Clark's Fork, and then to the rendezvous of his com- 
pany in the Rocky Mountains, having gained the dis- 
tinction of making the first overland trip from the 
United States into California, and also the first from 
California to Oregon. 

Wagons cross South Pass; Captain Bonneville. 
The next spring (1830) Smith, Jackson, and Sub- 
lette took the first loaded wagons into the Rocky Moun- 
tains to the head of Wind River, having driven from 
the Missouri along the line of the Platte and the Sweet- 
water. The partners reported that they could easily 
have crossed the mountains by way of South Pass. 
The discovery of this natural highway, so important in 
the history of the entire Pacific coast, must be credited 
to Ashley's trappers, some of whom first made use of it 
in 1823. Three years later a mounted cannon was 
taken to Salt Lake by this route, and six years after 
that loaded wagons crossed over for the first time to 
the west flowing waters. These vehicles belonged to 
the train of Captain Bonneville, a Frenchman in the 
United States army, who turned fur trader in 1832, 
hoping to gain a fortune like General Ashley. The 
story of his romantic marches and long detours through 
the great western wilderness has been charmingly told 
by Irving in his " Adventures of Captain Bonneville." 
In the space of about three years he traversed a large 
portion of the Snake River valley, and went down the 
Columbia as far as Fort Walla Walla. 1 But the gal- 

1 A few of his men, under Joseph Walker, went to California 
in 1833- 1834. Some of them remained there as settlers. 



no A History of the Pacific Northwest 

lant captain was no match for the shrewd American 
traders, or for the well-organized British company 
controlling the Columbia River region, and therefore 
his venture turned out a complete failure. 

Wyeth's trading scheme ; the first trip to Oregon. 
In the same year that Bonneville set out for the 
West an enterprising Bostonian, Captain Nathaniel J. 
Wyeth, also entered the Oregon country for the pur- 
pose of trade. Wyeth had become familiar with the 
writings of Hall J. Kelley concerning Oregon, 1 and in 
the summer of 1831 he arranged to send a ship around 
Cape Horn while he, with a party of landsmen, was to 
proceed across the country hoping to meet the vessel 
near the mouth of the Columbia. A company of Bos- 
ton merchants furnished the vessel, which sailed in 
the fall of 1 83 1. Wyeth gathered a small party of 
men, formed a sort of " Wild West " camp on an 
island in Boston Harbour, greatly to the astonishment 
of most people, and in spring was ready to begin the 
overland march. Knowing that the trip would have 
to be made partly by land and partly by water, the in- 
genious Yankee invented a machine which could be 
used either as a wagon bed or a boat. This the Latin 
scholars at Harvard College named the " Nat Wyeth- 
ium." He found it less useful than at first sup- 
posed and left it at St. Louis. At that place Wyeth 
and his men joined a party of the Rocky Mountain 
Fur Company under William L. Sublette, with whom 

1 Kelley published a plan for the colonization of Oregon, and 
other tracts. 



Pioneers of the Pioneers in 

they made the trip to the Rocky Mountains by means 
of a pack train. Here some of the men turned back 
discouraged, so that the last portion of the trip was 
made with only eleven men. This little party reached 
Vancouver, October 24, 1832. The ship had not ar- 
rived, and they soon learned that she had been 
wrecked at the Society Islands. Wyeth therefore re- 
turned to Boston in 1833, leaving a few of his men, 
who were among the first agricultural settlers of Ore- 
gon. The business part of the enterprise had failed 
completely. 

Wyeth's second expedition. But Wyeth was 
plucky, and had great faith in the prospects for a prof- 
itable commercial enterprise in the Oregon country. 
The salmon fishery of the Columbia was a possible 
source of great wealth, and he proposed to couple fur 
trading with it. He therefore induced the Boston 
partners to supply another ship, the May Dacre, which 
was sent down the coast in the fall of 1833. Wyeth 
himself made the trip overland once more in the sum- 
mer of 1834. This time he took a number of wagons 
from St. Louis, with goods which had been ordered 
by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. When the 
company refused to receive them, Wyeth selected a 
place near the junction of the Snake and Portneuf 
rivers, where he built Fort Hall and began trading 
with the Indians on his own account by means of an 
agent left there. He then passed on down the river, 
reaching Vancouver in September. Once more the 
energetic captain was disappointed, for the May 



112 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Dacrc, which had been expected to reach the Columbia 
early in the summer, during the salmon fishing season, 
came in tardily the day after the land party arrived. 
Nothing could then be done about fishing, so Wyeth 
sent her to the Hawaiian Islands with a cargo of tim- 
ber, while he spent the winter in trapping beaver on 
the streams south of the Columbia, principally the Des 
Chutes. By the middle of February he was back at 
Vancouver, the guest of McLoughlin. His trading 
plans were now all ruined. Nothing could be done 
with the fur trade in opposition to the Hudson's Bay 
Company. His trading establishment at Fort Hall 
did not prosper, the fisheries and other commerce 
amounted to little. Wyeth lingered in the country 
till the summer of 1836, when he returned to Boston 
and soon closed out his business in Oregon. 1 

But there was also another motive, very different 
from the motive of the fur trader, which was drawing 
men into the great western wilds and on toward the 
Pacific Ocean. This was the desire on the part of 

1 Wyeth kept a regular journal, which has been preserved in 
the family of one of his descendants. This manuscript was sent 
from Massachusetts to Oregon and published (1899), together 
with a large number of Wyeth's letters, under the editorial direc- 
tion of Professor F. G. Young, secretary of the Oregon Historical 
Society. The volume forms an invaluable source for the study 
of conditions in Oregon, and the state of the western fur trade, 
during the years covered. A very rare book on the first part of 
the first Wyeth expedition is the little volume by John B. Wyeth, 
published at Boston in 1833. Only a few copies are now in ex- 
istence. It has been reprinted under the editorship of Reuben 
Gold Thwaites, LL.D. in his series Early Western Travels. 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 113 

many good men to do something for the improvement 
of the Indians. There was nothing new in this any 
more than in the fur trade; but in the one case as in 
the other the period we have now reached witnesses a 
great expansion of effort and a marked improvement 
in organization. 

A new interest in Indian missions. The govern- 
ment of the United States at first had taken little in- 
terest in direct plans for the elevation of the red race. 
But after the close of the War of 181 2 which had 
caused a violent disturbance and dislocation in the con- 
dition of great numbers of Indians alike in the North- 
west and in the Southwest, some changes were wrought 
in the government's policy. Missionaries had long 
urged the expenditure of money by the United States 
for the civilizing of the Indians. A bill for that pur- 
pose finally was passed which appropriated $10,000, 
and it was provided that the expenditure of these funds 
should be made through the several missionary soci- 
eties that were maintaining workers among the In- 
dians. 

Morse's report on Indians. The sum was a small 
one, but it placed the work of the missions on a new 
basis, and it stimulated powerfully the missionary ac- 
tivity. Reverend Jedediah Morse, sent out on a mis- 
sionary survey of the western tribes in 1820, prepared 
an elaborate report, printed by the government, in 
which he proposed the establishment of " Education 
Families " among the more promising tribes. By this 
he meant that several workers should co-operate in 



H4 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the civilizing of the Indians — for example, the school 
teacher, the preacher, the Indian agent, the farmer, and 
the blacksmith. Such a group of workers might hope 
to develop among the Indians new tendencies and 
habits of life which would make the religious teaching 
fruitful instead of being, as was too often the case, a 
scattering of wheat seed in a field infested with tares. 
Morse also suggested the ultimate creation of an In- 
dian State to include parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, 
and Minnesota. Some leaders, like the famous Bap- 
tist missionary, Rev. Isaac McCoy, had already intro- 
duced in their mission fields the ideas set forth by 
Morse, and with the government funds available for 
the payment of the school teacher, who was often the 
missionary preacher himself, the blacksmith and the 
farmer, or at least one or two of these, much more 
could be done than simple religious charity could hope 
to undertake. For, as yet, the bulk of even the Chris- 
tian people of America were averse to giving their 
money for the benefit of the Indians, so sceptical were 
they of the Indians' capability of improvement. 

The removal policy; eastern Indians sent west- 
ward. Coupled with the new government policy of 
aiding in civilizing the Indians, was the policy of re- 
moving the tribes which had dwelt in districts east of 
the Mississippi to the " illimitable " regions west of 
that river. This plan was adopted mainly because 
white people were anxious to get control of Indian 
lands for new settlements. But many missionaries 
favoured the removal policy on other grounds: they 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 115 

believed that Indians could never be civilized if they 
lived in close proximity to whites, because the degrad- 
ing influences, especially the sale to Indians of strong 
drink, which resulted from such proximity, would more 
than offset all that preachers, teachers, and others 
could do for them. 

The practical carrying out of the removal policy 
caused great distress among the Indians, as may be 
supposed, and it likewise produced a mighty wave of 
sympathy for the red men. The newspapers recited 
their sufferings, and quoted the pathetic speeches of 
Indian chiefs, forced to leave " the land of their 
fathers, where the Indian fires were going out." Mis- 
sionaries followed, without hesitation, to the strange 
lands where " new fires were lighting in the West," and 
soon a considerable number of devoted men were at 
work among the tribes living between the Mississippi 
and the Rocky Mountains. Some were labouring 
among peoples they had known east of the river ; some 
sought out new fields on the Missouri, the Kansas, the 
Platte, and other streams, where they preached, taught 
the Indian children to read, and often induced the na- 
tives to till the soil and live in permanent houses, in- 
stead of wandering about in pursuit of game. Some- 
times the government employed the missionaries as 
teachers or Indian agents, and often assisted them by 
providing a blacksmith to make tools and farming im- 
plements. 

The Indian delegation to St. Louis. Since these 
things were going on in many places throughout the 



n6 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

West, and since a few persons like Hall J. Kelley had 
already been writing about the Oregon Indians in con- 
nection with plans for settling that country, it is not 
strange, but perfectly natural, that men should at last 
undertake to Christianize the tribes living on the 
Pacific coast. An incident which occurred probably 
in 1 83 1 was sufficient to start the first missionaries 
across the mountains. As the story goes, the nations 
of the upper Columbia had learned from British trad- 
ers something about the white man's religion. Wish- 
ing to know more, the Nez Perces, or Nez Perces and 
Flatheads, sent four of their leading men to St. Louis 
to see General Clark, whom old men remembered as 
having once visited their country, either to inquire 
about " The Book of Heaven," as the Protestants 
maintain, or to ask for priests, as the Catholics say. 
These Indians, setting out on their strange and inter- 
esting mission, crossed the mountains and the plains in 
safety and reached St. Louis, where they were kindly 
received by General Clark. Two of them died while 
in the city. The remaining two started for their own 
country in spring, but one died before reaching the 
mountains. 

Beginnings of the Willamette mission. The 
story of these four Indians, and their long journey to 
the East in search of spiritual guidance, was soon pub- 
lished in the religious papers and created the keenest 
interest. First to respond to the call for teachers was 
the Methodist denomination, which in 1833 commis- 
sioned Rev. Jason Lee to begin work among the Flat- 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 117 

heads. 1 Learning of Wyeth's plan to return to Ore- 
gon in the spring, Lee arranged to have all the provi- 
sions and equipments for the new mission taken to the 
Columbia in the May Dacre, while he and his nephew, 
Daniel Lee, and three laymen, Cyrus Shepard, P. L. 
Edwards, and C. M. Walker, joined Wyeth's overland 
party and made their way to the Columbia. They de- 
cided, for various reasons, to let the Flatheads wait 
and to begin work among the Indians on the Willa- 
mette. All went down to Vancouver, arriving in the 
month of September, 1834. When the May Dacre 
came in with their supplies, the missionaries explored 
the country for a suitable site. " On the east side of 
the river [Willamette], and sixty miles from its mouth, 
a location was chosen to begin a mission. Here was 
a broad, rich bottom, many miles in length, well 
watered and supplied with timber, oak, fir, cotton- 
wood, white maple, and white oak, scattered along its 
grassy plains." 2 They immediately began preparing 
materials for a house and when the rains of winter 
came had a respectable shelter. At the same time 
land was fenced for cropping, a barn built, and other 
improvements made ; so that the establishment took on 
the appearance of a prosperons woodland farm. 
The first Oregon colony. The missionaries were 

1 The Indians who went to St. Louis were often spoken of as 
Flatheads but there is evidence that some of the delegates were 
in reality Nez Perces. 

2 Lee and Frost's " The First Ten Years of Oregon," reprinted 
by the Oregonian, Sunday edition, October 11 to January 10, 
1903-1904. 



1 1 8 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

not the only settlers in the Willamette valley. On ar- 
riving there they found about a dozen white men al- 
ready occupying little farms, scattered along the river, 
where they lived in log cabins with Indian wives and 
families of children. Most of them were former 
servants of the Hudson's Bay Company who had either 
become unfit to range the forest, or preferred to settle 
down to cultivate the soil and live a quiet life. Dr. 
McLoughlin furnished them stock and provisions, 
as he did the men left in the country by Wyeth, re- 
ceiving his pay in wheat when the crops were har- 
vested, and in young stock to take the place of full- 
grown animals which he supplied. Here was the 
beginning of the first agricultural colony in Oregon, 
and it was this mixed community into which the mis- 
sionaries now came as a new influence, tending to 
bring about better social conditions. 

Progress of the mission. From the first, the mis- 
sionaries were more successful in their efforts among 
the neighbouring settlers than with the surrounding 
Indians. They opened a school, maintained religious 
services, and soon organized a temperance society 
which, partly through Dr. McLoughlin's influence, 
many of the white men joined. The Indian children 
were admitted to their school, and some of them made 
fair progress in learning. Orphans were adopted 
into the mission family from time to time, receiving 
in this way greater benefits from their contact with 
civilization. In 1837 the mission was reinforced by 
the arrival of twenty assistants sent from the East in 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 119 

two vessels. 1 New efforts were now made to Chris- 
tianize the Indians of the Willamette, and the follow- 
ing year a branch mission was begun at the Dalles of 
the Columbia. This became an important station ; but 
the work in the valley did not flourish, for the natives 
were a sickly, degraded race, almost beyond the reach 
of aid, and were rapidly dying off. 

Parker's tour. Let us now see what was going 
on in other portions of the Oregon country. The 
story of the Nez Perces delegation to St. Louis had 
affected other denominations as well as the Methodists, 
and in 1835 the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions sent out Dr. Samuel Parker to in- 
quire into the prospects for missionary work among 
the Oregon Indians. Mr. Parker was accompanied 
by a pious young physician, Dr. Marcus Whitman. 
Together they made the overland trip from Liberty, 
Missouri, with a party of Rocky Mountain trappers. 
Arriving at Pierre's Hole, they found Indians of sev- 
eral Columbia River tribes, who all seemed anxious to 
have missionaries settle among them. Thinking, 
therefore, that the main point was now gained, Dr. 

1 The first party arrived in May, and contained Dr. and Mrs. 
Elijah White, with two children; Mr. Alanson Beers, his wife 
and three children ; three young women, Miss Pitman, who was 
soon married to Rev. Jason Lee and who died the following year, 
Miss Susan Downing, who married Mr. Shepard, and Miss El- 
vira Johnson ; and one unmarried man, Mr. W. H. Wilson. The 
second company, arriving in September, consisted of seven per- 
sons : Rev. David Leslie, wife and three children, Miss Margaret 
J. Smith, and Mr. H. K. W. Perkins. 



120 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Whitman returned to the East to bring out assistants 
and supplies to begin one or more missions. Dr. 
Parker went on, under Indian guidance, to the Colum- 
bia, arriving at Fort Vancouver on the 16th of Octo- 
ber. Here he spent the winter as the guest of Dr. 
McLoughlin, and when spring came set out for the 
upper country. He stopped at Fort Walla Walla, 
where he preached to a multitude of Indians. Then 
journeying up the valley of Walla Walla River he 
observed, some twenty miles from the Columbia, " a 
delightful situation for a missionary establishment. . . . 
A mission located on this fertile field," he says, 
" would draw around [it] an interesting settlement, 
who would fix down to cultivate the soil and to be in- 
structed. How easily might the plough go through 
these vallies, and what rich and abundant harvests 
might be gathered by the hand of industry." From 
this place he went up the Snake River, where he seems 
to have fixed upon another site for a mission, and 
then struck off northward, exploring the beautiful val- 
ley of Spokane River. Here, too, were many Indians, 
who appeared to be anxious for religious instruction. 
Later in the year (1836) Dr. Parker sailed from Van- 
couver for the Hawaiian Islands, whence he returned 
to the Atlantic coast by way of Cape Horn, reaching 
his home at Ithaca, New York, in May, 1837, after an 
absence of more than two years. 1 

1 The following year Dr. Parker published at Ithaca, N. Y., 
his interesting little book called "An Exploring Tour Beyond 
the Rocky Mountains." 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 121 

The Whitman party of missionaries ; first women 
to go overland to Oregon. When Dr. Whitman re- 
turned to New York in the fall of 1835, with a report 
that the Columbia River Indians were eager for teach- 
ers, the board at once commissioned him to superin- 
tend the planting of a mission in that country. He 
had some trouble to find helpers, but at last Mr. and 
Mrs. H. H. Spalding consented to go with Whitman 
and his newly married wife. Mr. W. H. Gray 
also joined the party. These two women proved 
their exceptional courage by undertaking the over- 
land trip, which thus far had been accomplished 
by none but men. At Liberty, Missouri, the mission- 
aries joined a company of fur traders, and travelled 
with them to the mountains. In addition to saddle 
horses and pack animals, Whitman had provided his 
party with a one-horse wagon. At that time there 
was no road beyond Fort Hall, but on account of Mrs. 
Spalding's feeble health, which made it impossible for 
her to keep the saddle, he drove this vehicle as far as 
Fort Boise on Snake River, thus opening a new stage 
in the wagon road to the Columbia. 

Beginnings of the interior missions. Arriving at 
Fort Vancouver in September, the women were left 
under the protection of Dr. McLoughlin's family, 
while the men went up the river to begin the missions. 
On the Walla Walla River, about twenty miles above 
the fort, was a place which the Indians called 
Waiilatpu, where the first establishment was begun. 
In this prairie country timber was very scarce, and 



122 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

therefore the missionaries built their house of 
" adobes," large brick made of clay and baked by ex- 
posure in the sun. 1 This finished, the second station 
was begun on the Clearwater, at its junction with the 
Lapwai, a short distance below the point where Lewis 
and Clark, in 1805, reached the navigable waters of the 
Columbia. The place was in the midst of the Nez 
Perces country, about one hundred and twenty miles 
east of Waiilatpu. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding took up 
their abode here while the Whitmans remained at the 
Walla Walla station. 

Expansion of the work; Spokane mission. The 
Indians of this country were far superior in every way 
to those of western Oregon. They were wanderers 
during a good share of the year, but the winters were 
usually spent in fixed places, where they could be 
reached with ease. It was not long before many of 
them became interested in the schools established at 
both missions for their benefit, and after a time some 
were taken into the church. Special efforts were made 
to teach them to depend more upon agriculture and 
less upon hunting, fishing, and the search for camas 
roots. It was easy to cultivate the soil in this region, 
as Dr. Parker foresaw, so that the Indians were soon 
raising little fields of corn and patches of potatoes, 
which added much to their comfort and well-being. 
In the spring of 1837 Whitman planted twelve acres 

1 These particular brick were twenty inches long, ten inches 
wide, and four inches thick, as Dr. Whitman wrote to a fellow- 
missionary on Platte River. 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 123 

of corn and one acre of potatoes, besides peas and bar- 
ley. A few cattle were early procured from the East, 
and these multiplying rapidly, and being added to from 
time to time, soon developed into considerable herds, 
of which the Indians secured a share. In the fall of 
1838 a small party came from the East overland to 
reinforce the up-river missions. It consisted of Rev. 
Cushing Eells and wife, Rev. Elkanah Walker and 
wife, Rev. A. B. Smith and wife, Mr. W. H. Gray and 
wife, and Mr. C. Rogers. 1 Now it was determined to 
occupy the northernmost of the three mission fields 
selected by Dr. Parker, the Spokane country, where 
the families of Walker and Eells established them- 
selves in the spring of 1839. 2 

Life at the interior missions. Thus some of the 
tribes of the interior country were at last brought un- 
der the influence of a few men and women wholly 
devoted to their welfare, and understanding with a 
fair degree of clearness how to guide these barbarians 
along the path of civilization. The task was stupen- 
dous; but the missionaries believed it was not impos- 
sible, and laboured with exemplary courage. They 
preached to the natives as regularly as possible, gath- 
ered the children and their elders in the schools, trans- 
lated portions of the Bible into the Indian language 

1 Gray, who came to the Columbia in 1836 with Whitman and 
Spalding, had gone back to secure help, and was married before 
returning. 

2 This place was known as Tsimakane. For a short time a 
station was also occupied at Kamiah, on Snake River. 



124 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

and printed them on a little press, the gift of the 
Hawaiian missionaries; they helped the Indians build 
houses for themselves, showed them how to till their 
fields and lead water upon the growing crops; they 
erected rude mills to grind their corn and wheat. 

Coming of the Catholics. The earliest missions 
were founded, as we saw, by the Methodist society, 
and the next group by the American Board, both of 
those religious groups having been influenced by the 
story of the Flathead, or Nez Perces, or mixed delega- 
tion to St. Louis in 1831 in search of religious guid- 
ance. Yet, there is reason to believe that those In- 
dians, who in their country had received the religious 
impulse which aroused their astonishing zeal, or curi- 
osity, as one may view it, from Iroquois Indians Chris- 
tianized in the Red River settlement, were really asking 
for black-robed priests like those of whom the Iro- 
quois told them. If so, they were momentarily dis- 
appointed, but their people persisted and ultimately the 
" black robes " came to them. However, the first 
Catholic missionaries came to western Oregon, not to 
the land of the Flatheads or Nez Perces. It was in the 
year 1838 that Father Blanchet of the Montreal diocese 
and Father Demers of Red River began their labours 
among Catholic settlers and Indians under the protec- 
tion and with the active support of the Hudson's Bay 
Company. 

The Catholic missions. The first mission was es- 
tablished on the Cowlitz. Afterwards, St. Paul on the 
Willamette became the mission capital and the resi- 



Pioneers of the Pioneers 125 

dence of Father Blanchet, Vicar General and finally 
Bishop. Though the Catholic settlers on the Cowlitz 
and the Willamette were the first care of the two 
fathers, they travelled widely in the Oregon country 
and carried their teachings to various Indian tribes, 
among them the Walla Walla and Cayuse Indians liv- 
ing near the Whitman Mission. 

The Catholic ladder. Father Blanchet invented, 
for this work among the red men, the famous " Cath- 
olic Ladder," a pictorial representation of world his- 
tory from the standpoint of Christianity. This device 
was very effective in its appeal to the primitive mind, 
and it was one of the reasons for the marked success 
of the Catholic teachers as contrasted with that of their 
Protestant rivals. In the end, the Protestants were 
induced to use a " ladder " also, the invention of Mrs. 
Spalding, wife of Rev. H. H. Spalding, one of the 
Whitman missionaries. 

Father DeSmet. The most noteworthy of the 
Catholic missionaries in Oregon, during the early 
period, was the Jesuit Father DeSmet of St. Louis. 
DeSmet made his first journey west of the Rockies in 
1840, answering what is said to have been the third 
appeal of the Flathead Indians who in 1839 sent 
Ignace, a Christian Iroquois who lived among them, 
to St. Louis to ask for a missionary. The work of 
DeSmet during several successive journeys covered 
the northeastern portion of the old Oregon country 
and resulted in the establishment of such permanently 
important missions as those in the Bitter Root valley 



126 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

and at Coeur d'Alene. But others who followed and 
supported him carried the work throughout most of the 
interior country. 

Religious rivalries. Two widely variant types of 
Christianity were thus presented to the Indians of the 
Northwest by men who in each case conceived his own 
form to be the only means of salvation. It is not 
strange that the Indians were puzzled, or that vengeful 
feelings should occasionally cause those of one faith 
to injure the teachers of the other. So general was the 
impression of hostility among the rival groups of re- 
ligionists that when the Whitman massacre occurred, 
in November, 1847, the adherents of the Protestant 
cause were impelled to lay the blame for the awful 
crime upon the Catholics who, they believed, had in- 
cited the Indians to murder the Protestant missionaries. 
This charge, in support of which no real evidence has 
ever been produced, springs naturally out of the re- 
ligious rancour of the time. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 

Ten years of official inactivity, 1827-1837. The 

United States government, in all its departments, 
dropped the Oregon question when Gallatin secured 
the second treaty of joint occupation. For nearly ten 
years after that date neither Congress nor the executive 
made any move of importance toward settling the dis- 
pute with England, or assisting American citizens to 
gain a foothold within the Oregon country. Yet this 
period, 1 827-1 837, is of great importance in the his- 
tory of Oregon because of the doings of the first 
pioneers as described in the preceding chapter. Trap- 
pers, traders, and missionaries had entered the region ; 
and while little impression was made upon the business 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, a few Americans re- 
mained to till the soil and to instruct the Indians in 
religious things. This created a bond between the 
United States and the distant Columbia which forced 
the government to take an interest in that country. 
The question of the future of Texas had also compelled 
the United States to concern itself about the Mexican 
territories, and at one time (1835) President Jackson 
was anxious to buy northern California in order to 
secure the fine harbour of San Francisco. Accord- 

127 



128 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ingly, he sent an agent, Mr. W. A. Slocum, to the 
Pacific to collect information for the government, and 
on this voyage the first official visit was paid to Oregon. 

Slocum's visit to Oregon. Slocum arrived in the 
Columbia River at the end of the year 1836, with par- 
ticular instructions from President Jackson to govern 
his doings there. He was to visit air the white settle- 
ments on and near the Columbia, as well as the various 
Indian villages; to make a complete census of both 
whites and Indians, and to learn what the white people 
thought about the question of American rights in Ore- 
gon. Briefly, he was to " obtain all such information 
. . . as [might] prove interesting or useful to the 
United States." Mr. Slocum performed his work 
with a good deal of thoroughness. He made charts 
of the Columbia River, locating all the principal Indian 
villages ; visited Fort Vancouver to learn about the fur 
trade and other business of the establishment; and 
went up the Willamette Valley to the Methodist mis- 
sion, calling at nearly every settler's cabin passed on 
the way. He was pleased with the country, found the 
missionaries doing good work among the French and 
other settlers, and became enthusiastic over the agri- 
cultural advantages of the Willamette Valley. He 
pronounced it " the finest grazing country in the world. 
Here there are no droughts," he says, " as on the 
Pampas of Buenos Ayres or the plains of California, 
whilst the lands abound with richer grasses both winter 
and summer." 

The Willamette Cattle Company, 1837. Mr - 



The Colonizing Movement 129 

Slocum believed that if the settlers could be better pro- 
vided with cattle, which were as yet comparatively 
scarce, the prosperity of the country would be assured ; 
and with this idea the Oregon people heartily agreed. 
The Hudson's Bay Company, while generous in pro- 
viding farmers with work oxen, were not prepared to 
sell breeding stock freely, because their herds were not 
yet large enough to more than supply their own needs. 
The only practical way to obtain more cattle was to 
bring them overland from California, where the Mexi- 
can ranchers were slaughtering many thousands each 
year for the sake of the hides and tallow which they 
sold mainly to Boston shipowners. 1 There was one 
settler in the Willamette valley who was familiar with 
California, having lived there several years before com- 
ing to Oregon. This was Ewing Young, a man of 
considerable talent and enterprise, who now headed a 
movement for bringing cattle from the South. 2 Slo- 
cum encouraged the project in every way, especially 

1 One of the most entertaining books on early California is 
Richard H. Dana's classic story, " Two Years Before the Mast." 
It gives an account of the author's experience while a sailor on 
one of the " hide and tallow " ships trading along the California 
coast. 

2 Young was a noted frontiersman, originally from Tennessee, 
who early began trading in New Mexico. From there he went to 
California in 1829 and came to Oregon overland with a few others 
in 1834, driving a band of horses. One of his companions on 
this trip was the famous Oregon agitator, Hall J. Kelley, of 
Boston. Kelley had expected to bring out a colony to Oregon 
in 1832 ; but failing to secure colonists he finally started on his 
own account going to Mexico, thence to California and finally 
with Young to Oregon. 



130 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

by offering to carry to California without expense the 
men who were to go for the purpose of securing cattle. 
An association was formed, with Young at its head, 
that took the name of the " Willamette Cattle Com- 
pany." A fund of several thousand dollars was sub- 
scribed, partly by Dr. McLoughlin for the fur com- 
pany, partly by the Methodist mission, and the re- 
mainder by individuals. Mr. Slocum himself took a 
small financial interest in the company. Ewing Young 
and P. L. Edwards, with a few others, took passrge 
in the Loriot (Slocum's ship) to California, where they 
bought eight hundred head of cattle at three dollars 
apiece, and forty horses at twelve dollars apiece. After 
many vexations and hardships they arrived in the 
Willamette valley with six hundred head of stock, the 
remainder having been lost by the way. 

The bringing of these cattle, in the fall of 1837, 
marks the opening of a new era for Oregon. It gave 
a great stimulus to stock raising, for which the country 
was specially adapted, promoted the prosperity of the 
settlers already there, and, by the reports which soon 
travelled eastward, caused many people in the Missis- 
sippi valley to look with longing eyes toward this land 
of ease and plenty, thus preparing the way for the 
colonizing movement which was about to begin. 

Renewal of Oregon agitation in Congress. Mr. 
Slocum returned to the United States and made his re- 
port to the government. In December, 1837, this 
document, so interesting as the earliest particular ac- 
count of the Willamette settlement, was presented to 



The Colonizing Movement 131 

Congress and immediately aroused great interest. One 
of the points which Slocum insisted upon was that the 
United States must never accept a northern boundary 
for Oregon that would give to the British government 
the great harbour of Puget Sound. In other words, 
his idea was that we should hold out sturdily for the 
49th parallel, already thrice offered, and refuse utterly 
to take Great Britain's offer of the Columbia boundary. 
This doubtless strengthened the determination of a 
few leaders in Congress to secure a law for the military 
occupation of the Columbia, similar to that which Mr. 
Floyd tried to obtain fifteen years earlier. The Oregon 
question now came up once more and remained before 
Congress, in some form, during the succeeding ten 
years, till Oregon was effectively settled by the pioneers, 
a favourable treaty obtained from Great Britain, and 
an American territory created on the Pacific coast. 

Linn's bill and report, January and June, 1838. 
Of the many men who took part in the Oregon dis- 
cussions, between the years 1837 and 1843, none was 
more active or determined than Dr. Lewis F. Linn, 
senator from Missouri. He believed thoroughly in 
American rights on the Pacific, was inclined to belittle 
the British claims, and insisted on the urgent necessity 
of taking military possession of the Columbia River. 
He proposed also to establish a territorial government 
for Oregon. His first bill for these purposes was pre- 
sented to the Senate in January, 1838, and in June 
Dr. Linn brought in a report on the Oregon question. 
This was a lengthy document, containing a history of 



132 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the events on which our right to the Oregon country 
rested, and trying to show that the British claim was 
not well founded. In these respects it differed little 
from the earlier report by Floyd; yet on many points 
Linn was able to give information never before pre- 
sented to the country. For example, he described the 
road to Oregon, which had recently been traversed by 
two women in the Whitman-Spalding party. Many 
brief documents containing valuable information were 
printed as appendices to the report, which thus became 
a sort of text-book for the study of the Oregon ques- 
tion. Thousands of copies were printed, and in the 
next few years they were distributed all over the coun- 
try, especially through the West, with the result that 
numbers of men soon became interested in " our terri- 
tory on the Pacific," as Oregon was frequently called. 1 
Jason Lee's return; the Farnham party. Other 
influences were working to the same effect. Jason Lee, 
the superintendent of the Willamette mission, returned 
to the United States in the summer of 1838 " to obtain 
additional facilities to carry on . . . the missionary 
work in Oregon territory." He travelled overland 
with a few companions, passing through the frontier 
settlements of Missouri and Illinois, where he accepted 
invitations to lecture and to preach in the churches. 
A principal aim was to raise money for his missionary 
enterprise, but incidentally Lee aroused a good deal of 
enthusiasm for the far-off country, so rich in natural 

1 When the pioneers began to go to Oregon copies of Linn's 
Report were among the very few books taken across the plains. 



The Colonizing Movement 133 

resources, where he had lived during the preceding 
four years, almost within sight of the Pacific Ocean. 
At Peoria, Illinois, he left one of two Indian boys 
who had gone east with him, and perhaps partly on that 
account a special interest was aroused at that place. In 
the following spring Mr. Thomas J. Farnham of 
Peoria, with a company of fourteen men, undertook 
the overland trip to Oregon. He failed to keep his 
party together, and finished the journey with but three 
associates. Farnham visited the Whitman mission, 
and later the Willamette settlement, after which he 
took ship to the Hawaiian Islands and to California. 
On his return to the United States he published popu- 
lar accounts of the Oregon country, as well as of Cali- 
fornia, which were widely read and helped to swell 
the rising tide of interest in the far west. 

Petitions and memorials. The settlers in the 
Willamette valley intrusted Farnham with a memorial 
to Congress, asking that the protection of the United 
States government might be extended over them. Lee 
had carried with him from Oregon a similar petition, 
which was presented to Congress in January, 1839, by 
Senator Linn. It spoke of the fertility of the Willa- 
mette and Umpqua valleys, the unsurpassed facilities 
for stock raising, the mild and pleasant climate of west- 
ern Oregon, and the exceptional opportunities for com- 
merce. A special point was made of the growing trade 
with the Hawaiian Islands, whose people needed the 
beef and flour produced in the Willamette valley, and 
would soon be able to exchange for them coffee, sugar, 



134 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

and other tropical products required by the Oregon 
settlers. " We flatter ourselves," say the thirty-six 
signers of the memorial, " that we are the germ of a 
great state. . . . The country must populate. The 
Congress of the United States must say by whom. 
The natural resources of the country, with a well- 
judged civil code, will invite a good community. But 
a good community will hardly emigrate to a country 
which promises no protection to life or property. . . ." 
Lee personally wrote a letter to Congressman Caleb 
Cushing of Massachusetts, in which he reinforced the 
statements made in the petition. 1 " It may be 
thought," he says, " that Oregon is of little importance ; 
but depend upon it, sir, there is the germ of a great 
state." The Oregon people desired from Congress two 
things : first, the protection of the laws of the United 
States; second, a guarantee that they might keep the 
lands already taken up by them. Linn, Cushing, and 
other men made a faithful effort to obtain such laws; 
but the prevailing sentiment was against them, and no 
bill passed either house of Congress till 1843. 2 

The Oregon Provisional Emigration Society; its 

1 Cushing made a report to the House of Representatives in 
1839 which in some respects supplemented the report made by 
Linn to the Senate the year before. 

2 It was indeed, a very difficult matter to draw up a bill for the 
extension of our national authority over Oregon without violating 
either the letter or the spirit of the treaty of joint occupation. 
Many members of Congress refused to support the bills presented 
by Linn and others because it was feared their passage might 
embroil us with Great Britain. 



The Colonizing Movement 135 

origin and purpose. We have now to describe a 
movement arising outside of Congress in the summer 
of 1838, which added largely to the effect of the agita- 
tion begun by Linn and Cushing. This was the so- 
called Oregon Provisional Emigration Society, organ- 
ized at Lynn, Massachusetts, in August, 1838. The 
society was not a missionary organization purely, 
though most of its leading members belonged to the 
Methodist denomination. Its aim was " to prepare 
the way for the Christian settlement of Oregon." It 
proposed to enlist several hundred Christian families, 
send them to Oregon overland, and encourage them 
to make use of all the advantages for stock raising, 
commerce, fishing, etc., that the country afforded. But 
this was not to be the only aim of the settlement, for 
which the founders of the society had " nobler purposes 
in view." They believed it might be possible to Chris- 
tianize the Indians, educate them, and make them citi- 
zens of a new commonwealth in which they were to 
have all the rights and privileges of white citizens. 
The theory was that while the Indians east of the 
Rockies had already become hopelessly degraded, 
through contact with white men, those in the Oregon 
country were still mainly sound, and if taken in time 
might be saved. 

The Oregonian. The society published a monthly 
magazine called at first The Oregonian. The phrase 
and Indian's Advocate was afterward added to the 
title. It was edited by Rev. Frederick P. Tracy, of 
Lynn, Massachusetts, who was also the secretary of 



136 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the society. In the numbers of this magazine we find 
a large amount of information concerning the Oregon 
of eighty years ago. 1 The editor grew eloquent in the 
effort to set before his readers the possibilities of this 
great country. He called it " the future home of the 
power which is to rule the Pacific, . . . the theatre 
on which mankind are to act out a part not yet per- 
formed in the drama of life and government." Ore- 
gon's " far-spreading seas and mighty rivers [were] 
to teem with the commerce of an empire " ; her " bound- 
less prairies and verdant vales [were] to feel the steps 
of civilized millions; . . ." 

Colonizing plan fails. Such enthusiasm, supported 
by much valuable information, must have produced 
considerable effect, since the magazine reached a circu- 
lation of nearly eight hundred copies, and in addition 
to this the society also sent an agent into the western 
states to enlist emigrants, who were to go to Oregon in 
the spring of 1840. This scheme of colonization 
failed. Since the magazine suspended publication in 
the year 1839, we do not have the society's explana- 
tion of the failure. But probably they found imprac- 
ticable the plan of enlisting well to do persons in a 
scheme of colonization which was more or less mission- 
ary in its aims, particularly since they proposed to 
secure the political and social equality of the Indians. 
In a word, the plan was too visionary to succeed. 

1 Apparently only eleven numbers were printed. It begins 
with October, 1838, and ends with August, 1839. Complete files 
of this paper are very rare. 



The Colonizing Movement 137 

But by this time there were little knots of men in 
various parts of the United States, — Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, — 
who thought of forming emigration societies to colonize 
Oregon. There was some delay in carrying out these 
plans; but the idea had begun to take hold of the 
popular mind, and a few years would see the wagon 
trains gathering for the wonderful journey across the 
continent. 

Lee's missionary colonization scheme. We left 
Jason Lee busily at work in the eastern states raising 
money and men for his missionary reinforcement. He 
was remarkably successful, securing, with the help of 
the Methodist board, the large sum of forty-two thou- 
sand dollars. He got together a company of over fifty 
persons — men, women, and children — with whom 
he sailed from New York in the ship Lausanne on the 
10th of October, 1839. In the following May they 
reached the mouth of the Columbia from Hawaii, and 
on the 1 st of June all were safely landed at Vancouver. 
Here the party separated. One of the ministers, Rev. 
J. H. Frost, was sent to the mouth of the Columbia; 
Rev. A. F. Waller took charge of a station at Willa- 
mette Falls; two others, Rev. W. W. Cone and Rev. 
Gustavus Hines, went to the Umpqua to begin a new 
mission, which did not succeed; Mr. Brewer and Dr. 
Babcock, laymen, reinforced the station at the Dalles; 
and Rev. J. P. Richmond, with his family and Miss 
Clark as teacher, went up to the station already begun 
near Fort Nesqually on Puget Sound. The rest of 



138 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

them passed up the Willamette to the central mission 
near the present capital city of Salem, where some took 
lands, and helped to change this establishment into the 
truly American colony it now became. About the same 
time a number of Rocky Mountain trappers settled in 
the valley, and still further increased the American in- 
fluence. The colony now contained more than a hun- 
dred people. 

Visit of Lieutenant Wilkes. In the year 1841 
Oregon received a visit from Lieutenant Charles 
Wilkes, commander of the Pacific Exploring Squadron 
sent out by the United States government in 1838. 1 
Wilkes took pains to travel through all the settled por- 
tions of the Willamette valley, and gives a detailed ac- 
count of what he found there. Near the mouth of the 
river was a group of young men building a small vessel, 
which they called The Star of Oregon, and which was 
afterward taken to San Francisco and exchanged for 
cattle. At the falls were Waller's mission and a trad- 
ing, or rather salmon-packing, station of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. At a place called Champoeg there were 
four or five cabins, in one of which Wilkes was enter- 
tained by an old seaman, named Johnson, who had 
fought in the glorious naval battle between the Consti- 

1 Two other noteworthy visitors to Oregon during this year 
were Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, who was on his trip around the world, and a French diplo- 
mat, Duflot de Mofras, at that time connected with the French 
legation in Mexico. Each wrote a book, in which some account 
of Oregon is contained. 



The Colonizing Movement 139 

tution and the Guerriere. 1 Farther up the river were 
observed " many small farms of from fifty to one hun- 
dred acres, belonging to the old servants of the com- 
pany, Canadians, who [had] settled here; they all 
[appeared] very comfortable and thriving." Twelve 
miles above Champoeg dwelt the Catholic priest, 
Father Blanchet, " settled among his flock, . . . doing 
great good to the settlers in ministering to their tem- 
poral as well as spiritual wants." The traveller passed 
a few more farms before reaching the first of the build- 
ings belonging to the Methodist mission. Wilkes was 
entertained by Mr. Abernethy, whose family was one of 
the four living in the " hospital " erected by Dr. White 
— " A well-built frame edifice with a double piazza in 
front, . . . perhaps the best building in Oregon." A 
ride of five miles brought him to " the mill," 2 where he 
found " the air and stir of a new secular settlement ; 
. . . the missionaries [had] made individual selections 
of lands to the amount of one thousand acres each, in 
the prospect of the whole country falling under our 
laws." He was convinced that they were now more 
interested in building up the country than in labouring 
further among the few remaining Indians. Neither 
did they care to leave the Willamette valley in order to 
find a more hopeful mission field, but preferred to re- 
main here and direct the future development of the new 
colony they had done so much to create. Among these 

1 Johnson afterward built the first house in the city of Port- 
land. 

2 This was near the present site of Salem. 



140 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

people Wilkes heard much about a plan to establish a 
provisional government for Oregon. This he dis- 
couraged, believing that there were as yet too few 
American settlers to make the experiment a success. 

Relations with the Hudson's Bay Company. 
Wilkes found some of his countrymen disposed to com- 
plain of the Hudson's Bay Company; but he appears 
to have given little heed to these mutterings, knowing 
that there was no serious cause of trouble between the 
two nationalities. 

Dr. White's company of 120 settlers, 1842. The 
year after Wilkes's visit, Oregon received the first con- 
siderable party of the emigrants coming from the 
United States by the overland route. Dr. Elijah 
White, who had arrived in the country in 1837, re- 
turned to the East by sea in 1840. Soon after this the 
government began to think of sending an Indian agent 
to Oregon, and early in the year 1842 White was ap- 
pointed to this position, with instructions to take out 
as many emigrants as could be got together in the West. 
White delivered lectures in various places, interviewed 
pioneers in Missouri and elsewhere, and soon had a 
company of about one hundred and twenty men, who 
started from Independence, Missouri, in May, and 
made a successful journey across the mountains. The 
party took wagons as far as Fort Hall, using pack 
horses from this place to the Columbia. 1 

1 About the same time the government sent out Lieutenant 
John C. Fremont to explore a route into the Rocky Mountains. 
This was the first of his " path-finding " expeditions. 



The Colonizing Movement 141 

The Ashburton Treaty, 1842. While this com- 
pany was on its way across the plains, Lord Ashburton 
and Daniel Webster were discussing at Washington all 
the questions remaining unsettled between the United 
States and Great Britain; and on the 9th of August, 
they signed what is called the Ashburton Treaty. 
Americans had hoped that the Oregon question might 
be settled at this time; but in the negotiations it was 
soon found that Great Britain was not yet prepared to 
make concessions, and the treaty omitted all mention 
of the matter. 



CHAPTER X 

THE FIRST GREAT MIGRATION 

The Oregon situation in 1842. Many people were 
grievously disappointed at the outcome of the Webster- 
Ashburton negotiation, because of the silence of the 
treaty concerning Oregon. Yet, looking back from 
this distance, it is difficult to see how any serious evil 
could result from a further delay in settling the ques- 
tion. It had already waited a quarter of a century, 
during most of which time Americans had no interests 
in the region west of the Rockies. Now they not only 
had the beginnings of an actual settlement in the Willa- 
mette valley, but everything foreshadowed such a large 
emigration to the Columbia that our position would 
soon be much stronger than that of our adversary. 
The situation was a little like that on the Mississippi 
prior to the Louisiana Purchase; and just as Jefferson 
wanted time to plant strong American communities on 
the banks of this river before forcing an issue with 
France, so far-sighted statesmen of forty years later 
were glad to see the pioneers preparing for the journey 
to Oregon, because this would strengthen the American 
claim as against Great Britain. 1 

1 President Tyler, writing three years later (October J; 1845) 
to Mr. Calhoun, says that he hesitated to take up the Oregon 

142 



The First Great Migration 143 

The prospect for emigration in 1843; White's 
letter. Certainly at the time the Ashburton Treaty 
was signed American prospects were brightening. In 
the same month (August, 1842), Dr. White wrote a 
letter from the mountains in which he assured the 
frontiersmen that the Oregon colony would prove suc- 
cessful, that his company would reach the Willamette 
in safety, and that a good pilot could be procured to 
bring out a company the following spring. 

Other causes; the Oregon country. This was 
doubtless one of the causes inducing the pioneers to 
prepare for the overland march in 1843. But there 
were many others. The long agitation in Congress, 
reports, speeches, newspaper articles, and letters had 
given the pioneering class considerable information 
about the Oregon country. They knew that the Willa- 
mette valley was a favoured land for farmer and stock- 
man, possessing a rich soil, mild climate, and such a 
combination of prairie and forest, with springs of pure 
water everywhere, as would make the opening of new 
farms peculiarly easy and pleasant. In the western 
states, the settlers had suffered much for the lack of 
easy transportation, their crops bringing scarcely 
enough to pay for the labour expended upon them ; but 
in Oregon they would have a navigable river at their 

negotiation after the treaty of 1842, "believing that under the 
convention of joint occupation we stood on the most favourable 
footing. Our population was already finding its way to the shores 
of the Pacific, and a few years would see an American Settlement 
on the Columbia sufficiently strong to defend itself and to protect 
the rights of the U. States to the territory." 



144 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

doors, and the ocean but a short distance away. The 
market for grain was said to be good, cattle were re- 
ported to be worth four times what they were bringing 
in western Missouri, and in each case the cost of pro- 
ducing was very much less. Oregon, also, had other 
resources, aside from these exceptional agricultural 
advantages. Her streams were full of the finest sal- 
mon, which might be packed and shipped at a good 
profit ; splendid forests of fir and pine, extending down 
to the water's edge, invited the establishment of lumber 
mills ; and unlimited water power was at hand for all 
manufacturing purposes. Such a combination of ele- 
ments, the pioneers thought, would insure the develop- 
ment of a prosperous state on the shores of the Pacific. 
" Hard times," slavery, the spirit of adventure, 
patriotism. For several years, the western people 
had experienced continuous " hard times," with low 
prices for everything they had to sell, and almost no 
opportunity to improve their condition either in farm- 
ing or other business. The spirit of unrest on these 
accounts was widespread. Moreover, many persons 
in the southwestern states were beginning to feel very 
keenly the evils of slavery, which was causing violent 
agitation throughout the country, and were anxious to 
remove their families beyond the reach of its influence. 
But underneath all other motives was a distinctly Amer- 
ican love of adventure, the product of generations of 
pioneering. It was the spirit of the frontiersmen of 
the olden time: the longing to open new "trails," to 
subdue strange lands, and make new settlements. 



The First Great Migration 145 

True, men had abundant opportunity to " move " with- 
out crossing the western mountains. They might go 
from Ohio to Michigan, Wisconsin, or Iowa; from 
Kentucky to western Missouri, Arkansas, or Texas. 
But, while thousands were each year doing this, such 
migrations after all were hardly satisfying to those re- 
membering the deeds of pioneer ancestors who had 
traversed the " Wilderness Road " into Kentucky, and 
settled in a wild region amid constant dangers and 
alarms from hostile savages. The stories of Boone, 
Kenton, Clark, and scores of others were still recited 
around frontier firesides by old men and women who 
spoke out of their own vivid recollections of these bor- 
der heroes. Such tales fired the imaginations of the 
young, and prepared a generation of men for a new 
feat of pioneering, more arduous in some respects than 
that of seventy years before. But it was an alluring 
prospect, this journey of two thousand miles through 
an uninhabited wilderness. The combination of vast 
plains, great rivers and mountains enticed the dweller 
in the peaceful, but unpoetic valleys of the interior, 
while the vision of a farm directly tributary to the 
western ocean seemed to him to promise a larger 
measure of economic bliss than he could hope to achieve 
at home. 

Add to all this the belief, which many held, that their 
going to Oregon would benefit the United States in its 
contest with Great Britain over territorial rights, and 
we have a combination of motives powerful enough to 
set hundreds of pioneers in motion. 



146 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Collecting the companies. The approach of spring 
(1843) found numbers of men in various sections of 
the country preparing for the march. The companies 
had been organizing for many months. Correspond- 
ence committees in western Missouri received names of 
intending emigrants as early as September, 1842. An 
emigration agent from St. Louis, Mr. J. M. Shivley, 
spent the winter in Washington, kept the people of the 
West informed as to the progress of legislation respect- 
ing Oregon, and tried to induce the Secretary of War 
to provide a company of troops to escort the emigrants. 
Senator Linn once more brought up his bill for the es- 
tablishment of a territorial government and the grant- 
ing of lands to settlers. It passed the Senate on the 3d 
of February by the close vote of twenty- four to twenty- 
two. Although afterward killed in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, the enthusiasm and hope aroused by the 
passage of the bill through the Senate had much to do 
with starting new recruits to the place of rendezvous. 
So did, also, the public meetings held in various places, 
like Columbus and Chillicothe, Ohio, and Springfield, 
Illinois, to discuss the Oregon question and to adopt 
resolutions urging Congress to pass the Linn bill. A 
few men of large influence in the western communi- 
ties had decided to emigrate, and they undertook to 
persuade others by means of newspaper articles, per- 
sonal interviews, and public addresses. In Blooming- 
ton, Iowa, the entire population appears to have been 
affected by what men called the " Oregon fever " ; they 
held several public meetings, organized an emigrating 



The First Great Migration 147 

party, adopted rules concerning equipment, the route to 
be taken, and other details of preparation for the 
journey. 

Organizing for the march. Independence, Mis- 
souri, had for some years been the general outfitting 
place for companies of traders, trappers, and emigrants 
going to the far West. The village lay a few miles 
from the Missouri River, near the present site of 
Kansas City, and was the radiating point for many 
wilderness highways, including the great Santa Fe 
and Oregon " trails." Most of the small parties from 
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, and 
Iowa, as well as those from Missouri, gathered at this 
place. By the middle of May many had arrived, driv- 
ing in from all directions two, three, a dozen or twenty 
wagons at a time, with loose stock following behind 
the train. They now made arrangements for the start, 
adopting a body of rules, and choosing a pilot to con- 
duct them through the mountains. The pioneers were 
then ready to move forward. 

Peter H. Burnett ; the start ; Elm Grove. A lead- 
ing man of this emigration was Peter H. Burnett, a 
young lawyer from Platte County, Missouri, who had 
done much to get the company together. He kept a 
diary during the course of the journey, and on reaching 
the Willamette wrote a number of letters for the New 
York Herald, giving an account of the trip. Looking 
back from his far western home to the time of begin- 
ning their march from Missouri, and realizing both its 
difficulties and the significance of what had been done, 



148 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

he says: " On the 226. of May we began one of the 
most arduous and important trips undertaken in 
modern times." The first camp, at Elm Grove, on ac- 
count of its strange picturesqueness, produced a strong 
impression upon the mind of Burnett, as it probably 
did on others. " I have never witnessed a scene," he 
says, " more beautiful than this. Elm Grove stands 
in a wide, gently undulating prairie. The moon shed 
her silvery beams on the white sheets of sixty wagons ; 
a thousand head of cattle grazed upon the surrounding 
plain; fifty campfires sent up their brilliant flames, and 
the sound of the sweet violin was heard in the tents. 
All was stir and excitement." 

Electing officers; division of the company. By 
the time they had crossed the Kansas River (June 1) a 
good many others had joined the company, which now 
numbered one hundred and twenty wagons, nearly one 
thousand persons of all ages, and more than five times 
as many animals. Stopping to complete the organiza- 
tion, Peter H. Burnett was chosen captain, J. W. 
Nesmith orderly sergeant, and nine others designated 
to form a council. A few days later, however, Bur- 
nett resigned, and the company was divided into two 
parts. Each division had sixty wagons; but one was 
composed mainly of those who had few or no loose 
cattle, and called " the light column " ; while the other 
contained the owners of the herds, large and small, 
with which this emigration was encumbered, and took 
the name of " the cow-column." There was a separate 
captain for each. 



The First Great Migration 149 

"A Day with the Cow-Column," by Captain 
Jesse Applegate. The leader of the second division 
was Captain Jesse Applegate, a man whom the people 
of Oregon delight to honour as one of the noblest of the 
pioneers. He is remembered as a statesman, a sur- 
veyor, a pathfinder through the southern mountains, 
and in general a leader in all the varied activities of 
frontier life in the Northwest. But, fortunately, he 
was also a writer of elegant English prose ; and one of 
the most delightful productions of his pen is an account 
which he wrote in 1876 of a typical day on this long 
march " with the cow-column." Since this essay gives 
us so lifelike a picture of the great emigration in motion 
toward the west, and since it describes the camping 
methods in use for many years among trapping parties 
and traders, as well as emigrants to Oregon and Cali- 
fornia, we cannot do better than to transcribe a portion 
of it. 1 

Daybreak ; arousing the camp. " It is four o'clock 
a.m. ; the sentinels on duty have discharged their rifles 
— the signal that the hours of sleep are over — and 
every wagon and tent is pouring forth its night tenants, 
and slow kindling smokes begin largely to rise and float 
away in the morning air. Sixty men start from the 
corral, spreading as they make through the vast herd 
of cattle and horses that make a semicircle around 

1 The paper was read by Mr. Applegate before the Oregon 
Pioneer Association in 1876, and published in their proceedings ; 
it was reprinted in the Quarterly of the Oregon Historical So- 
ciety for December, 1900. 



150 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the encampment, the most distant perhaps two miles 
away. 

Corralling the stock. " The herders pass the ex- 
treme verge and carefully examine for trails beyond, to 
see that none of the animals have strayed or been stolen 
during the night. This morning no trails lead beyond 
the outside animals in sight, and by five o'clock the 
herders begin to contract the great moving circle, and 
the well-trained animals move slowly towards camp, 
clipping here and there a thistle or a tempting bunch 
of grass on the way. In about an hour five thousand 
animals are close up to the encampment, and the team- 
sters are busy selecting their teams and driving them 
inside the corral to be yoked. The corral is a circle one 
hundred yards deep, formed with wagons connected 
strongly with each other; the wagon in the rear being 
connected with the wagon in front by its tongue and ox 
chains. It is a strong barrier that the most vicious ox 
cannot break, and in case of attack from the Sioux 
would be no contemptible intrenchment. 

Getting ready for the day's march. " From six to 
seven o'clock is a busy time; breakfast is to be eaten, 
the tents struck, the wagons loaded and the teams yoked 
and brought up in readiness to be attached to their re- 
spective wagons. All know when, at seven o'clock, 
the signal to march sounds, that those not ready to take 
their places in the line of march must fall into the 
dusty rear for the day. There are sixty wagons. 
They have been divided into fifteen divisions or pla- 
toons of four wagons each, and each platoon is entitled 



The First Great Migration 151 

to lead in its turn. The leading platoon to-day will 
be the rear one to-morrow, and will bring up the rear 
unless some teamster through indolence or negligence 
has lost his place in the line, and is condemned to that 
uncomfortable post. It is within ten minutes of seven; 
the corral but now a strong barricade is everywhere 
broken, the teams being attached to the wagons. The 
women and children have taken their places in them. 
The pilot (a borderer who has passed his life on the 
verge of civilization and has been chosen to his post of 
leader from his knowledge of the savage and his experi- 
ence in travel through roadless wastes) stands ready, 
in the midst of his pioneers and aids, to mount and 
lead the way. Ten or fifteen young men, not to-day on 
duty, form another cluster. They are ready to start 
on a buffalo hunt, are well mounted and well armed, 
as they need to be, for the unfriendly Sioux have driven 
the buffalo out of the Platte, and the hunters must ride 
fifteen or twenty miles to find them. The cow drivers 
are hastening, as they get ready, to the rear of their 
charge, to collect and prepare them for the day's march. 
Breaking camp ; forward along the trail. " It is 
on the stroke of seven ; the rush to and fro, the crack- 
ing of whips, the loud command to oxen, and what 
seemed to be the inextricable confusion of the last ten 
minutes has ceased. Fortunately every one has been 
found and every teamster is at his post. The clear 
notes of a trumpet sound in the front ; the pilot and 
his guards mount their horses ; the leading divisions of 
the wagons move out of the encampment, and take up 



152 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the line of march ; the rest fall into their places with the 
precision of clockwork, until the spot so lately full of 
life sinks back into that solitude that seems to reign 
over the broad plain and rushing river as the caravan 
draws its lazy length towards the distant El Dorado. . . . 

The nooning. " The pilot, by measuring the 
ground and timing the speed of the horses, has deter- 
mined the rate of each, so as to enable him to select the 
nooning place as nearly as the requisite grass and water 
can be had at the end of five hours' travel of the 
wagons. To-day, the ground being favourable, little 
time has been lost in preparing the road, so that he and 
his pioneers are at the nooning place an hour in ad- 
vance of the wagons, which time is spent in preparing 
convenient watering places for the animals, and dig- 
ging little wells near the bank of the Platte. As the 
teams are not unyoked, but simply turned loose from 
the wagons, a corral is not formed at noon, but the 
wagons are drawn up in columns, four abreast, the 
leading wagon of each platoon on the left, the platoons 
being formed with that in view. This brings friends 
together at noon as well as at night. 

Session of the " council." " To-day an extra ses- 
sion of the council is being held, to settle a dispute that 
does not admit of delay, between a proprietor and a 
young man who has undertaken to do a man's service 
on the journey for bed and board. Many such cases 
exist, and much interest is taken in the manner in which 
this high court, from which there is no appeal, will 
define the rights of each party in such engagements. 



The First Great Migration 153 

The council was a high court in the most exalted sense. 
It was a senate composed of the ablest and most re- 
spected fathers of the emigration. It exercised both 
legislative and judicial powers, and its laws and de- 
cisions proved equal, and worthy of the high trust re- 
posed in it. . . . 

The drowsy afternoon. " It is now one o'clock ; 
the bugle has sounded and the caravan has resumed its 
westward journey. It is in the same order, but the 
evening is far less animated than the morning march. 
A drowsiness has fallen apparently on man and beast ; 
teamsters drop asleep on their perches, and even when 
walking by their teams; and the words of command 
are now addressed to the slowly creeping oxen in the 
soft tenor of women or the piping treble of children, 
while the snores of the teamsters make a droning ac- 
companiment. . . . 

Forming the evening camp ; nightfall. " The sun 
is now getting low in the west, and at length the pains- 
taking pilot is standing ready to conduct the train in 
the circle which he has previously measured and marked 
out, which is to form the invariable fortification for the 
night. The leading wagons follow him so nearly 
around the circle that but a wagon length separates 
them. Each wagon follows in its track, the rear clos- 
ing on the front, until its tongue and ox chains will 
perfectly reach from one to the other ; and so accurate 
[is] the measure and perfect the practice, that the hind- 
most wagon of the train always precisely closes the 
gateway. As each wagon is brought into position it 



154 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

is dropped from its team (the teams being inside the 
circle), the team is unyoked, and the yoke and chains 
are used to connect the wagon strongly with that in 
its front. Within ten minutes from the time the lead- 
ing wagon halted, the barricade is formed, the teams 
unyoked and driven out to pasture. Every one is busy 
preparing fires ... to cook the evening meal, pitching 
tents and otherwise preparing for the night. . . ." 
The watches " begin at eight o'clock p.m. and end at 
four o'clock a.m." 

Arrival at Fort Hall, August 27. The daily rou- 
tine, here so graphically described, must have become 
extremely wearisome to the pioneers and their families 
after a few months spent upon the dusty, dreary 
" trail." At the end of ninety-eight days, on the 27th 
of August, the company reached Fort Hall, the trading 
post built by Wyeth in 1832 and afterwards sold to the 
Hudson's Bay Company, which had become a famous 
way station on the overland route. They were now on 
the eastern border of the Oregon country, and two- 
thirds of the distance to the Willamette had been 
traversed. The hardships already endured from 
storm, flood, and the unavoidable mishaps of the long 
journey across the plains were very great; yet all were 
aware that the most difficult portion of the trip was still 
before them. Thus far the road had been compara- 
tively good; at least, the wagons always had a well- 
marked trail to follow. But this practically terminated 
at Fort Hall, which was connected with the lower 
country by only a pack trail. No loaded wagons had 




The deep-worn Oregon trail as it looked in 1900 



The First Great Migration 155 

ever passed the fort, and when the pioneers set out 
from their homes in the spring it was generally under- 
stood that the wagon road ended at this place. How- 
ever, they soon found that it would be impossible to 
secure enough pack horses to carry their families and 
property to the Columbia, as the small parties of pre- 
vious years had done, and so it became necessary to go 
forward with the wagons at all hazards. The company 
was large, they could send roadmakers ahead to pre- 
pare the way, and might be able to overcome even the 
worst difficulties by united effort. Besides, they had 
with them Dr. Whitman of the Walla Walla mission, 
who had taken his light wagon, without a load, as far 
as Fort Boise in 1836, and who knew more about the 
possibility of opening a wagon trail through the region 
still to be traversed than any of the other men. Whit- 
man felt certain they could succeed, urged the com- 
pany to make the venture, and offered to act as guide. 
His services to the emigrants from Fort Hall west- 
ward were very great, and are remembered with grati- 
tude by the early pioneers of the Northwest. 

From Fort Hall to Waiilatpu down the Columbia. 
They left Fort Hall on the 30th of August, passed Fort 
Boise September 20, and ten days later came in sight 
of the Grand Ronde, the famous circular valley of the 
Blue Mountains. Its peaceful beauties are said to have 
so impressed the travellers, after the toils and hardships 
of the days spent in the desert, that some broke into 
tears of joy as they looked down upon it from the high 
plateau above. Ten days later they reached Whit- 



156 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

man's station, where many of them bought supplies of 
wheat and potatoes for the trip to western Oregon. A 
portion of the emigrants arranged to leave their cattle 
in the Walla Walla valley ; some drove herds overland ; 
while the families, the wagons, and other property were 
taken down the Columbia in boats and rafts. By the 
end of November all had reached the Willamette 
valley. 1 

1 Most of the sources from which this account of the great 
emigration is written were discovered by the writer while search- 
ing through files of old newspapers preserved at Madison, Wis- 
consin, St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri. A portion of the 
matter thus found has been reprinted in the Quarterly of the 
Oregon Historical Society, where it can be conveniently referred 
to. The most important single source for the journey is the 
Burnett Herald letters, reprinted in the Quarterly for December, 
1902. A series of other short letters appears in the Quarterly for 
June, 1903, and still others in several recent numbers. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON THE PACIFIC 

Importance of the emigration of 1843. The emi- 
gration whose organization and movements have just 
been described marks a new starting point in the his- 
tory of the Northwest. Up to this time we have been 
dealing with events which may be looked upon as in- 
troductory; now we begin actually to see the process 
of state building on the shores of the Pacific. Just as 
in Virginia the colony can hardly be said to have been 
planted prior to the arrival of Delaware's party in 
1610; as in Massachusetts it was the great company 
brought out by Winthrop in 1630 which firmly estab- 
lished the English people, although the beginnings of 
settlement already existed; so on the Pacific coast the 
emigration of 1843 closes the period of experiment, 
and gives us a true, self-supporting American colony. 
In the present chapter we shall do scarcely more than 
point out some of the changes produced in Oregon dur- 
ing the succeeding three years as a result of this influx 
of new people. 

Beginnings of the agitation for a government. 
The earliest attempts to form a provisional government 
for the Willamette colony were made several years 
prior to 1843; but, as we shall see, the organization 

157 



158 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

was not put into effective operation till after the new 
immigrants arrived. When our people began going 
to the country there were no American laws to control 
their actions, and no government whatever except that 
which was exercised over British subjects by officers 
of the Hudson's Bay Company. The missionaries in 
the Willamette valley, and the other settlers who gradu- 
ally collected there, regarded this as one of their prin- 
cipal grievances, and repeatedly petitioned Congress 
to extend the laws of the United States over them. 
But, as we have seen, that body could not be induced to 
take any action. In 1840, with the arrival of the 
Lausanne company and the Rocky Mountain trappers 
of that year, the American party felt greatly strength- 
ened and began to talk of organizing a provisional or 
temporary government on their own account, in the 
expectation of giving it up whenever the United States 
should be prepared to extend its authority over the 
country. The French settlers, however, being attached 
to the fur company, remained satisfied with conditions 
as they were. 

The first step toward an organization, 1841. 
Early in 1841 an incident occurred which brought out 
sharply the need of some regular authority, and set in 
motion plans to secure a political organization. Ewing 
Young, the pioneer stockman of the Willamette valley, 
whose connection with the cattle company has already 
been described, in the course of nine years' residence in 
the country, had become possessed of a large herd of 
cattle and considerable other property. In February 



First American Government on the Pacific 159 

of this year he died, without making any provision by 
will for the disposition of his estate, and so far as 
known leaving no heir. His neighbours were naturally 
very much interested in the case, and it is claimed that 
those who gathered at Young's funeral issued a call 
for a general meeting to consider what was to be done 
with this property. On the 17th of February, when 
the public meeting occurred, resolutions were offered 
providing for a committee to draft a constitution and 
laws. This body was selected on the 18th, and besides 
the settlers chose Dr. Ira L. Babcock of the Methodist 
mission to be supreme judge with probate powers. 
They provided also for a clerk of courts and recorder, 
a high sheriff, and three constables. The meeting then 
adjourned to the second Tuesday in June. Dr. Bab- 
cock, on the 15th of April, appointed an administrator 
for Ewing Young's property, this being, it is believed, 
the first official act of the Oregon provisional govern- 
ment. 

The plan miscarries. When the June meeting took 
place it was found that the committee appointed to 
draft a constitution and laws had done nothing, not 
even so much as to meet for consultation. The reason 
was plain enough. In their anxiety to gain the support 
of the French settlers the missionary party, which con- 
trolled the earlier meetings, had succeeded in making 
the Catholic Father Blanchet, chairman of the com- 
mittee. But he refused to take any interest in the 
matter and failed to call the committee together. Blan- 
chet now resigned, and his place being filled by an 



160 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

American it seemed that something would probably 
be done. The committee was instructed to meet on a 
particular day and report to a meeting of the settlers 
set for October. But a new obstacle appeared in the 
person of Lieutenant Wilkes, who showed himself de- 
cidedly opposed to the plan of a provisional govern- 
ment. The result was that the whole matter was 
dropped for more than a year. 

The question resumed in 1843; the "wolf meet- 
ing." In the fall of 1842 Dr. White arrived as In- 
dian agent, bringing his company of one hundred and 
twenty new settlers. Although the French party had 
also been strengthened, it now appeared to some of the 
Americans that the time for action had come. The 
matter was discussed during the winter, and with the 
approach of spring a favourable opportunity arose to se- 
cure a public meeting. The settlers' herds had suffered 
much from the ravages of wild beasts, an evil which 
called for some means of exterminating the forest foes. 
On the 2d of February, 1843, a group of persons gath- 
ered at the Oregon Institute appointed a committee to 
" notify a general meeting," which was held on the 
second Monday of March. The committee was pre- 
pared with resolutions advising that bounties be paid 
for killing wolves, lynxes, bears, and panthers; that a 
subscription fund be raised for that purpose; and that 
officers be appointed to manage the business. These 
being adopted, the more important and interesting reso- 
lution was offered, " That a committee [of twelve] be 
appointed to take into consideration the propriety of 



First American Government on the Pacific 161 

taking steps for the civil and military protection of the 
colony." 1 This also received a favourable vote, and 
now the plan to create a provisional government was 
fully launched. 

The provisional government voted at Champoeg, 
May 2, 1843. Only two months were allowed to in- 
tervene between the appointment of the committee 
and the meeting to consider its report. It was a time 
of great political activity in the settlement. The 
French people were still generally opposed to the 
scheme and were encouraged in their opposition by 
the Hudson's Bay Company. There was much uncer- 
tainty in the minds of the settlers as they gathered at 
Champoeg on the 2d of May. The committee, how- 
ever, reported in favour of establishing a government. 
When a motion was made to adopt this report, the 
vote was very close and some one called for a division 
of the house. At this point arose the stalwart figure 
of " Joe " Meek, one of the most picturesque of the 
" mountain men," and a person of considerable influ- 
ence among certain classes in the community. Step- 
ping out grandly in front of the crowd of excited men 
he shouted: " Who's for a divide? All in favour of 
the report and of an organization, follow me." The 
count was made, we are told, after half an hour of 
the greatest confusion, and resulted in fifty-two (52) 
votes in favour and of fifty (50) against the resolu- 

1 This resolution was proposed by Mr. W. H. Gray, who was 
then living in the Willamette valley, and who bore a prominent 
part in the affairs of the colony at this time. 



1 62 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

tion. So the project to organize a provisional gov- 
ernment was carried. 

Election of officers; the July meeting. The of- 
ficers recommended by the committee were chosen be- 
fore the adjournment. They were a supreme judge, 
a clerk and recorder, a high sheriff (Joe Meek was 
very properly elected to this post), three magistrates, 
three constables, a major and three captains of militia. 
A legislative committee composed of nine members 
was also chosen at this meeting, and instructed to re- 
port a code of laws to be voted on by the people July 
5. The pioneers who gathered at Champoeg to hear 
a Fourth of July address by Rev. Gustavus Hines re- 
mained over to the next day and ratified the provisions 
of the so-called First Organic Law. 1 

A government by " compact." " We the people 
of Oregon Territory," so the preamble of this famous 
document recites, " for purposes of mutual protection, 
and to secure peace and prosperity among ourselves, 
agree to adopt the following laws and regulations until 
such time as the United States of America extend 
their jurisdiction over us." Here we have another 
illustration of the well-known American method of 
forming a government by " compact," or agreement. 
Two hundred and twenty-three years earlier, when the 
Pilgrim Fathers met to draw up their " Mayflower 

1 This document, as well as the provisional constitution of 
1845, may be conveniently found in Strong and Schafer's " Gov- 
ernment of the American People," Oregon edition, Boston, 1901, 
Appendix. 



First American Government on the Pacific 163 

Compact," this principle was employed for the first 
time in American history, and soon afterward the 
early colonists of Connecticut followed it in their 
" Fundamental Orders." When, at a later time, 
American pioneers crossed the Alleghenies to eastern 
Tennessee, and found themselves beyond the jurisdic- 
tion of any seaboard state, they formed the " Watauga 
Association." Similar pioneer governments were 
created in Kentucky, on the Cumberland River, and 
elsewhere. 1 The Willamette settlers were following 
in the footsteps of their ancestors. 

The emigration of 1843 saves the provisional gov- 
ernment. The work of the pioneers at Champoeg 
was of considerable importance in the history of Ore- 
gon and the Pacific coast ; for it called the attention of 
men everywhere to the American colony in this region ; 
it quickened the interest of the United States govern- 
ment; and announced to Great Britain that her sub- 
jects were no longer completely dominant in the 
Pacific Northwest. Yet, while the Americans then in 
the country deserve credit for taking the first steps, 
these results were largely due to the appearance 
of the great emigration in the fall. It changed the 
small American majority into an overwhelming one; 
provided able political leaders, like Burnett, Apple- 
gate, McCarver, Nesmith, Waldo, and Lovejoy; in- 
creased the property of the country; and gave a feel- 

1 The people of Vermont, for example, had a government of 
their own, created by compact or agreement among themselves, 
for fourteen years before the state was admitted to the Union. 



164 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ing of security and stability which only numbers can 
impart. 

Governmental improvements made in 1 844-1 845. 
The government as adopted in July, 1843, while prob- 
ably the best that could then be secured, was in some 
respects very weak. Instead of a governor there was 
to be an executive committee of three. The land law, 
which was of greater interest to most of the settlers 
than any other feature, was especially defective, be- 
cause it allowed the Catholic and Protestant missions 
to claim each an entire township, aside from the land 
their members held as individual settlers. Lastly, 
there was no way to raise money for the support of 
the government except by private contributions, a 
thoroughly inefficient and always disappointing 
method. The legislative committee of 1844, made up 
mainly of the newcomers, on their own responsibility, 
revised the entire system, providing for a governor, a 
house of representatives, a more satisfactory judiciary, 
a new land law permitting none but actual settlers to 
hold claims, and above all a means of raising taxes to 
support the government. This last was the keystone 
of their political arch, as the leaders well knew, and 
they were wise enough to fit it exactly to its purpose. 
The law required that every settler's property should 
be assessed on a regular basis, and in case any one re- 
fused to pay the tax apportioned to him, he was to 
lose the right to vote and all other benefits of the gov- 
ernment. If his claim were jumped, the court could 
not relieve him; if a thief were to drive off his cattle 



First American Government on the Pacific 165 

or slaughter them in the pasture, the sheriff and the 
constables would turn a deaf ear to his appeal for 
help. He would become an outlaw. 

The reform of 1844 fails to satisfy. The govern- 
mental reform of 1844, while effective in certain re- 
spects, created another political agitation in the Ore- 
gon colony. Some no doubt were alarmed at the very 
success of the new law relating to taxation. Others 
felt aggrieved over the alteration in the land laws. 
Still others professed to feel outraged because the 
legislative committee failed to extend the jurisdiction 
of the provisional government over that part of Ore- 
gon lying north of the Columbia. They raised against 
the committee the charge of a want of patriotism. In 
fact, Dr. McLoughlin reported that a party among the 
settlers wished to establish an Oregon or Pacific State 
which should be independent of both the United States 
and Great Britain. Still others found serious fault 
with the manner in which the committee had wrought 
these profound changes. They had set aside an or- 
ganic or fundamental law adopted by the people them- 
selves without so much as saying " by your leave," 
and had created virtually a new constitution as well as 
a new legal code without submitting any portion of 
their work to the people for acceptance or rejection. 
In a word, the legislative committee had enacted a po- 
litical revolution, a thing dangerous in itself and, by 
the reaction it was bound to engender, likely to prove 
disastrous to the colony. 

The revision of 1845. The Legislative Committee 



1 66 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

of 1845, headed by Jesse Applegate, resolved upon a 
thorough-going revision of the government. They 
presented to the people a choice between the funda- 
mental law adopted in 1843, anc ^ a revised draft, much 
improved in literary style and in completeness, which 
had been drawn up by Mr. Applegate. The people bal- 
loted and adopted the revised draft by a very large ma- 
jority. They also continued the committee in office. 
Then the Legislative Committee reconvened, passed 
necessary laws, and adjourned. 

Thus the political problem in Oregon was settled. 
The constitution, based on compact, was similar in 
form to the constitution of an American state. It 
established a good government, — firm, just, and effect- 
ive in all its departments. The settlers supposed it 
was to last only a few months, believing the United 
States was about to take control of the country; but in 
fact this event did not occur till nearly four years later. 
In the meantime there was no reasonable cause of com- 
plaint against the government maintained by the 
sturdy, sober, order-loving pioneers themselves. 

Effect of the great migration on later emigra- 
tions. While these political matters were being set- 
tled, western Oregon was filling up with new people 
whose coming was due very largely to the success of the 
1843 emigration. When that company started, many 
thousands of people followed their movements with 
anxiety, not a few regarded them as foolish adven- 
turers, and Horace Greeley declared : " This emigra- 
tion of more than a thousand persons in one body to 




JESSE APPLEGATE 
A splendid type of the pioneer state builder 



First American Government on the Pacific 167 

Oregon wears an aspect of insanity." * When they 
reached the Columbia in safety, proving that loaded 
wagons could be taken through without serious diffi- 
culty, a great change instantly came over the thought 
of the country with respect to Oregon. It was a 
startling thing to eastern people to be told, by a man 
who had made the trip, " You can move here [from 
Missouri] with less expense than you could to Ten- 
nessee or Kentucky." Moreover, many prominent 
pioneers wrote home giving favourable accounts of the 
country. Burnett said, "If man cannot supply all his 
wants here, he cannot anywhere." Another declared : 
" The prospect is quite good for a young man to make 
a fortune in this country, as all kinds of produce are 
high and likely to remain so from the extensive de- 
mand. The Russian settlements in Asia [Alaska?], 
the Sandwich Islands, a great portion of California, 
and the whaling vessels of the Northwest coast pro- 
cure their supplies from this place." McCarver 
found " the soil of this valley . . . equal to that of 
Iowa or any other portion of the United States ; . . ." 
and T. B. Wood wrote, " The prairies of this region 
are . . . equal to any in Missouri or Illinois." Such 
letters were commonly printed, first in the local paper 

1 New York Tribune, July 22, 1843. He feared that their 
provisions would give out, their stock perish for want of grass 
and water, their children and women starve. " For what," ex- 
claimed Mr. Greeley, " do they brave the desert, the wilderness, 
the savage, the snowy precipices of the Rocky Mountains, the 
weary summer march, the storm-drenched bivouac and the gnaw- 
ings of famine? " 



1 68 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

of some western town, then in the more widely read 
journals of the country, with the result that Oregon 
took its place in the popular mind by the side of Wis- 
consin, Iowa, and Texas, as a territory possessing at- 
tractions for the home seeker. 

The emigration of 1844. The emigrating com- 
pany of 1844 numbered about fourteen hundred. The 
parties reached the Missouri frontier early in the 
spring and set out in good time. But the wetness of 
the season caused many delays, so that they reached 
the western slope very late, and mostly in want of pro- 
visions. A small party was hurried forward to bring 
supplies from the Willamette valley, some bought food 
of the missionaries on the Walla Walla, and even of 
the Indians, and finally, late in the fall, most of them 
reached their destination in a sorry state. The rains 
having already set in, there was no chance to provide 
proper shelter, and many suffered great inconvenience, 
if not actual hardship. The earlier settlers were 
forced to listen to a good deal of repining from the 
newcomers ; but, as one of them wrote, this " only 
lasted during the winter. In the spring, when the 
clouds cleared away, and the grass and flowers sprang 
up beneath the kindling rays of a bright Oregon sun, 
their spirits revived with reviving nature, and by the 
succeeding fall they had themselves become old settlers, 
and formed a part of us, their views and feelings, in 
the meantime, having undergone a total change." * 

1 Quoted from Burnett's " Recollections of an Old Pioneer," 
New York, 1880. The portion of this book relating to Oregon, 



First American Government on the Pacific 169 

The emigration of 1845; horrors of Meek's 
" cut-off." In the year 1845 Oregon received the 
largest of the early emigrations, a body of nearly 
three thousand people. They started, not in a single 
caravan like the earlier parties, but in companies of 
fifty, seventy-five, a hundred, or two hundred wagons. 
All went well till after they passed Fort Boise, where 
the emigrants encountered Stephen H. L. Meek, who 
offered to guide them over a trail by way of the Mal- 
heur River, said to be much shorter than that com- 
monly used. 1 Unfortunately, about one hundred and 
fifty wagons followed him into the most barren and 
desolate country that eastern Oregon contains, and 
where as it proved there was no road except an old 
pack trail. Stock perished, food gave out, the emi- 
grants became desperate in their anxiety to find water. 
When they reached a little oasis in the desert, they 
formed a camp, while mounted men to the number of 
one hundred scoured the country in every direction 
for water, only to return at nightfall without finding it. 
This was continued for several days in succession. 
Meantime the children and the weaker adults were fall- 
ing sick, and many of them were dying. In the midst 
of this despair a galloping horseman brought the glad 
news of the discovery of water. The hated guide had 
found it. Grief was now turned to joy; loud shouts 

which contains a large amount of valuable matter on early con- 
ditions, the emigration of 1843, etc., has been reprinted in the 
Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. V. 

1 Sixty wagons had turned off at Fort Hall to go to Cali- 
fornia. 



170 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

rang out; there was laughing and clapping of hands. 
But some stood reverently silent, with bowed heads 
and eyes brimming over with tears of thankfulness. 
The stream found proved to be a branch of the Des 
Chutes River, along the course of which the travellers 
passed down to the Dalles, whence a few days brought 
them to the Willamette. They had suffered the most 
terrible agony on the route, wasted forty days of 
precious time, and worse than all, lost about seventy- 
five of their number. 1 Those emigrants who followed 
the customary route entered the valley at the usual 
time without serious mishap. 

Population of Oregon; its distribution. The 
population of Oregon, which was doubled by the ar- 
rival of the emigrants of 1845, now numbered about 
six thousand, settled in five counties, of which all but 
one were in the Willamette valley. They were Yam- 
hill, Clackamas, Tualatin, Champoeg, and Clatsop. 
In the election of 1845 the total vote for governor was 
five hundred and four. The following year it was 
more than doubled, and a new county, Polk, had been 
added to the list of those lying south of the Columbia, 
while there was now also a county, named Columbia, 
north of the river. 

Origin of the Puget Sound settlement. The new 
northern county has its explanation partly in the fact 
that a few Americans were by this time settled on the 
waters of Puget Sound. When the colonists first be- 

1 The names of thirty-four, nearly all adults, were printed in 
the eastern papers of the next year. 



First American Government on the Pacific 171 

gan coming to Oregon they were usually dependent 
on the Hudson's Bay Company for supplies, stock, 
tools, and in general everything necessary to start 
them in farming. McLoughlin, believing that Great 
Britain would at last come into possession of the re- 
gion north of the Columbia, tried to prevent American 
settlers from taking claims on that side of the river, 
directing them all to the Willamette. For a time this 
plan worked well, but when the best lands of the valley 
were all taken up, and Americans became so numerous 
in the country as to feel somewhat independent of the 
fur company, a few pioneers began to think of taking 
claims north of the river. Of the party which arrived 
in the fall of 1844 a few men, under the lead of M. T. 
Simmons, tried to reach Puget Sound overland, but 
failing, returned to the neighbourhood of Vancouver, 
where they spent the winter. The following summer 
Simmons started out once more, with six companions, 
made his way up the Cowlitz to the head of naviga- 
tion, and then westward to the lower end of the 
Sound. One of their fellow-emigrants of the previous 
year, John R. Jackson, was already established in a 
cabin on the highland north of the Cowlitz, and the 
pioneers also saw the large farm opened some years 
before by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a 
branch of the fur company. They were delighted 
with the prospects of the Puget Sound country, with 
its splendid opportunities for commerce and manufac- 
tories; and returning for his family, Simmons settled, 
in October, on a claim near the site of Olympia. Four 



172 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

other families and two single men took claims in the 
same neighbourhood, and thus was the foundation laid 
for a new community in the north. 

The Hudson's Bay Company accepts the protec- 
tion of the provisional government. While these 
sturdy frontiersmen were hewing a road through the 
jungle north of Cowlitz Landing, the settlers in the 
Willamette were winning their greatest political vic- 
tory by inducing the officers of the fur company to 
bring themselves, their people, and all the property of 
the organization under the protection of the provi- 
sional government. This was achieved on the 15th of 
August. The monopoly, which had dominated the 
affairs of the Northwest for a quarter of a century, 
had at last sunk to a subordinate position; and the 
Oregon question, so far as control of the country it- 
self was concerned, had been settled by the pioneers. 1 

1 McLoughlin made a special arrangement with the officers of 
the government, whereby the company was to be taxed only on 
the merchandise which it sold to settlers. Jesse Applegate is the 
man who negotiated this important agreement. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE OREGON BOUNDARY SETTLED 

We have seen how George Canning in 1824 fixed 
the British Oregon policy by demanding the Colum- 
bia as a boundary from its mouth to the forty-ninth 
parallel. He was willing, indeed, to concede to the 
United States free ports on DeFuca's Strait, and even 
a small, detached portion of territory with ports north 
of the Columbia. But he would not hear of extend- 
ing the forty-ninth parallel as the boundary westward 
from the Rocky Mountains to the sea. 

Ashburton's instructions; the Ashburton-Web- 
ster negotiations. On the rock of Canning's policy, 
or that of the United States based upon the forty- 
ninth parallel, the negotiations of 1824 and of 1826-7 
came to grief. No new effort was made to solve the 
boundary problem till 1842, when Lord Ashburton 
was sent to the United States as special commissioner 
to settle with Secretary of State Daniel Webster all 
causes of dispute between the two countries. Ash- 
burton's main purpose was to settle the northeastern 
boundary, between Maine and Canada, the dispute over 
which had become especially dangerous because con- 
flicts had broken out between British subjects and 
American citizens in the disputed territory. But Ash- 

173 



174 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

burton was instructed to settle the less important ques- 
tion relating to Oregon provided this could be done in 
a manner satisfactory to Great Britain. There is no 
evidence that Lord Aberdeen, British Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs, made an independent study of the 
Oregon question at this time. It seems, rather, that in 
his instructions to Ashburton he simply followed in 
the footsteps of Canning. In any event, the conces- 
sions Ashburton was permitted to make were those 
Canning had offered ; the boundary he might agree to 
was the Canning boundary along the Columbia and the 
forty-ninth parallel. On the other hand, he was in- 
structed to reject, outright, the thrice offered Ameri- 
can boundary, along the forty-ninth parallel to the 
sea. 

Webster desired Northern California. When 
Webster and Ashburton reached the Oregon question 
in their discussions it seemed at first as if a chance 
of agreement existed. For, although Webster com- 
plained that the Columbia boundary, demanded by 
Ashburton, would leave the United States without a 
good harbour on the Pacific coast, he yet suggested 
that the matter might be adjusted provided the United 
States could secure from Mexico Northern California 
together with the great harbour of San Francisco. 

Did he mean to exchange Northern Oregon for 
Northern California? This remark of Mr. Webster, 
which was reported by Ashburton to Lord Aberdeen, 
seems to indicate that Webster would have been willing 
to abandon Northern Oregon. But Webster later de- 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 175 

clared that at no time had he been prepared to accept a 
boundary less favourable than the forty-ninth par- 
allel. Hence, if he was willing to give up our claim 
to Northern Oregon at all, we must infer that he would 
have yielded it only in exchange for something he 
deemed more valuable to the United States, and pos- 
sibly he thought Northern California would be more 
valuable. But California belonged to Mexico and 
could be secured by treaty with Mexico, not by treaty 
with Britain. Why, then, did Webster mention this 
matter to Ashburton ? To this question one answer is, 
that Webster was willing to receive from the British 
government a tender of their good offices with Mexico 
to induce her to sell Northern California to the United 
States. Had Britain responded in this way, and had 
she secured Mexico's consent to the transfer, it is pos- 
sible that Webster would have been willing to sign a 
treaty giving Britain the Oregon boundary she de- 
sired. Since Ashburton merely answered that Britain 
would make no objection to our acquisition of North- 
ern California, but assumed no responsibility in the 
matter, Webster refused to discuss the Oregon boun- 
dary question further at that time. 

Wilkes's report. Ashburton concluded that the re- 
turn of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes to Washington 
from his famous exploring cruise in the Pacific, during 
which he had visited both Oregon and California, was 
the cause of Webster's loss of interest in the Oregon 
boundary settlement. It was understood, he wrote, 
that Wilkes reported very unfavourably upon the har- 



176 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

bour at the mouth of the Columbia, where he lost the 
ship Peacock x in 1841, but very favourably upon the 
harbours in Puget Sound. We now know that 
Wilkes argued against giving up any part of the terri- 
tory west of the Rockies and between the parallels of 
42 ° and 54 40'. He insisted on the advisability of 
excluding the British entirely. His reasons were that 
to divide the territory on the line of the forty-ninth 
parallel would leave Fraser River wholly outside our 
boundary ; it would cut off the middle and eastern sec- 
tions of the country below the forty-ninth parallel 
from their natural source of supplies of timber; and it 
would lead to commercial and boundary disputes with- 
out number. 2 It is not clear that this report influ- 
enced Webster greatly, though it probably stimulated 
the zeal of some of those politicians who not long 
afterward began to clamour for " Fifty-Four-Forty." 
However that may be, the spring of 1843 saw the 
rise of a remarkable agitation in favour of the Ameri- 
can occupation of " the whole of Oregon." Behind 
the movement was resentment over the defeat of 
Linn's bill, and resentment also against Secretary 
Webster who, it was rumoured, was willing to con- 
cede the Columbia boundary to Great Britain if she 

1 Later, he had some thought of going to London as special 
commissioner to settle the question, and he had in mind, as one 
plan, the so-called " tri-partite " idea, namely: an arrangement to 
be entered into by the U. S. conjunction with Britain and Mexico 
by which he should secure Northern California from Mexico. 

2 See Wilkes's report as reprinted in Quarterly of the Oregon 
Historical Society, v. XII, pp. 269-299. 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 177 

would persuade or coerce Mexico into selling us Cali- 
fornia. Local meetings were held in various parts of 
the Mississippi valley, and these resulted in the calling 
of an Oregon convention at Cincinnati in July. 1843. 1 
Nearly one hundred delegates were in attendance, and 
not only the Mississippi valley, but the entire country 
was interested in their proceedings. 

Origin of the demand for 54 ° 40' as the northern 
boundary. This convention adopted resolutions de- 
claring that the United States had an undoubted right 
to the country west of the Rocky Mountains between 
the parallel of 42 ° on the south and 54 ° 40' on the 
north. In other words, the line established in 1824 
to separate American interests from those of Russia 
was regarded as the rightful northern boundary of the 
United States in the Pacific Northwest. This would 
have shut Great Britain out from the territory west of 
the Rockies, notwithstanding the explorations of her 
Mackenzies, her Thompsons, Cooks, and Vancouvers; 
and would have left no beaver ground on the Pacific 
slope for her traders, who had controlled the com- 
merce of that region for thirty years. 

Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight. When the Demo- 
cratic convention met at Baltimore in 1844 and nomi- 
nated James K. Polk for President, it was the western 

1 The idea of a Mississippi valley convention to consider the 
Oregon question originated at Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio States- 
man for this period is the best source of information on the entire 
movement. Its files were consulted in the library of the Wis- 
consin Historical Society at Madison. 



178 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

influence which succeeded in making the Oregon ques- 
tion a feature of the resolutions. " Fifty-Four-Forty 
or Fight " was not, indeed, a plank in the platform, 
though it became in some quarters a campaign slogan ; 
but when President Polk, in his inaugural address, de- 
clared his belief that our title to " the whole of Oregon 
was clear and unquestionable " the agitation had in- 
deed reached its logical result. The government was 
now maintaining the extreme claims of the western ex- 
pansionists, and without a moderating influence at 
London or at Washington, or at both capitals, war, 
seemingly, would have been inevitable. For, with a 
nation of Englishmen supporting Canning's doctrine 
that Oregon must be apportioned between the two na- 
tions by drawing a dividing line along the Columbia 
and the forty-ninth parallel, and an American nation 
advancing a claim to the entire country which previ- 
ously it had offered to divide on the forty-ninth par- 
allel the chances of a peaceable settlement of differ- 
ences were not promising. 

Britain's " unquestionable " rights asserted. 
Fortunately, before matters were pressed to extremity, 
each nation came to understand clearly that the other 
would go to war rather than make humiliating conces- 
sions, and good sense on both sides enabled them to 
avoid that calamity. The way in which the British 
Parliament and press treated President Polk's inaug- 
ural statement proved to our government that Great 
Britain would never consent to be ousted from the re- 
gion west of the Rockies, whatever her historical rights 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 179 

there might be. We now saw that she also had rights 
deemed " clear and unquestionable " which her people 
would support at all costs. 

It proved somewhat difficult to enlighten British 
opinion as to what were the.Uower limits of the Ameri- 
can demands. The Ashburton negotiations at first 
threw the matter in some doubt on account of Web- 
ster's suggestion about Northern California. Still, 
Lord Ashburton was finally convinced that, for one 
reason or another, Webster did not care at that time to 
consider the Columbia boundary proposed by him. 
When the popular clamour for Fifty-Four-Forty was 
taken up by the President himself, the British govern- 
ment should have been convinced that no possibility re- 
mained of securing Canning's boundary. 

Peaceful policy of British statesmen; new nego- 
tiations; Pakenham and Calhoun. Doubtless these 
facts had their influence, especially upon the British 
cabinet leaders. But in matters of foreign policy pub- 
lic opinion is apt to change slowly and Canning's Ore- 
gon policy especially died hard. Sir Robert Peel and 
Lord Aberdeen, the British premier and the Foreign 
Secretary, were anxious to avoid a rupture with the 
United States and after Ashburton's failure they pro- 
posed a new negotiation, which they agreed might take 
place at Washington also. At the beginning of the 
year 1844 Richard Pakenham (afterwards Sir Rich- 
ard) was sent to the United States as minister, with 
the special mission of settling the Oregon boundary 
question. Pakenham after some months, during 



180 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

which the secretaryship of state came into new hands, 
opened negotiations with Secretary Calhoun, but again 
with no prospect of reaching results. For the most 
part, old arguments were repeated, perhaps in new 
forms, but with no increase in cogency. Pakenham 
learned, however, that the United States would accept 
nothing short of the forty-ninth parallel boundary, al- 
though they might be willing to let that boundary run 
to the sea-coast only, the line from that point deflect- 
ing southward around the southern end of Van- 
couver's Island, the whole of which, in that case, 
would go to Britain. Calhoun assured him solemnly 
that this was the largest concession our government 
could possibly make, and that the Senate could never 
be induced to ratify a treaty giving Great Britain a 
more favourable boundary. 

Polk, Buchanan, and Pakenham. It was during 
the discussions between Calhoun and Pakenham that 
the election occurred which placed James K. Polk in 
the presidential chair on a platform declaring for " the 
whole of Oregon." Polk's inaugural address boded 
ill for the future negotiations, yet Polk and his Secre- 
tary, Buchanan, gave assurances that they wished a 
peaceful settlement, and the discussions went on much 
as before, though with some loss of mutual respect, 
confidence and forbearance on the part of the negoti- 
ators. After a good deal of preliminary sparring, 
Buchanan made a new offer of the forty-ninth par- 
allel as a boundary, but with no modifications respect- 
ing either Vancouver's Island or the commercial priv- 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 181 

ileges desired by Britain, and the offer was refused 
by Pakenham without referring it to his government. 
Buchanan then withdrew the offer and intimated that 
no new offer would be made by the United States. 

A tense situation. This left the question in a 
critical state, inasmuch as Congress was bound to do 
something for the protection of American settlers in 
Oregon and the temper of that body was by no means 
conciliatory. The saving thing in the situation was 
that the British government learned in time the reason 
behind the popular American interest in Oregon and 
so was able to gauge more accurately the concessions 
which would be demanded from her. 

A new argument; settlement of Oregon. In the 
discussion between Calhoun and Pakenham one new 
argument was brought forward by the American 
negotiator. He said : " Our well founded claim, 
grounded on contiguity, has greatly strengthened 
during the same period [since 1818] by the rapid ad- 
vance of our population towards the territory; its 
great increase, especially in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, as well as the greatly increased facility of pass- 
ing to the territory by more accessible routes ; and the 
far stronger and rapidly swelling tide of population 
that has recently commenced flowing into it, — an 
emigration estimated at not less than 1,000 during the 
past [year, 1843] and 1,500 during the present year 
[1844] has flowed into it. . . . There can be no 
doubt, now, that the operation of the same causes 
which impelled our population westward from the 



1 82 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

shores of the Atlantic across the Allegheny to the val- 
ley of the Mississippi will impel them onward with 
accumulating force across the Rocky Mountains into 
the valley of the Columbia, and that the whole region 
drained by it is destined to be peopled by us." 

Its importance not realized by Britain; new in- 
formation sought. At that point, therefore, the 
movement of pioneers into Oregon became a factor to 
be reckoned with by Britain because it was changing 
the relative situation of the two nations that entered 
into the joint-occupation agreement in 1818. The 
British government had hardly been more than aware 
that such a movement was going on ; and till a late 
hour of the negotiations they had no conception of its 
true importance. Sir George Simpson had reported 
the presence of a few American families in Oregon in 
1842. But Ashburton at about the same time de- 
clared that it would be impossible for the United States 
to colonize Oregon " for many years to come." 
Pakenham held and expressed similar views. But ap- 
parently the British cabinet was not satisfied with the 
information its diplomatic representatives could give 
on that subject and they appealed to the Hudson's 
Bay Company as more likely to know the facts about 
the settlement already existing in Oregon. From 
Governor Simpson they learned that as early as 1843 
the American population in Oregon was at least twice 
as numerous as the British. When the news of Polk's 
warlike inaugural reached London a warship was or- 
dered to the Oregon coast and soon thereafter two 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 183 

military officers, Lieutenants Warre and Vavasour, 
were sent to the Columbia overland from Canada to 
examine into the means necessary to defend the coun- 
try if the United States should attempt to secure it by 
force. 1 

A British warship in Oregon waters; Lieutenant 
Peel's survey; Lieutenant Peel's report. The 
America frigate anchored in Fuca's Strait August 31, 
i8i6. Her captain was Sir John Gordon, a brother of 
Lord Aberdeen, and one of her younger officers was 
Lieutenant William Peel, fourth son of Sir Robert 
Peel. Captain Gordon sent Lieutenant Peel to Van- 
couver, and across the Columbia " to examine and pro- 
cure information of the present state of the new Amer- 
ican settlement on the Willamette." Sailing promptly 
to the Hawaiian Islands, Gordon there detached Peel 
to carry his information to London. Peel sailed to 
Mexico, crossed the Atlantic, and was back at London 
by the 9th or 10th of February, 1846. Since he had 
complete knowledge of the local situation in Oregon 
— the dominance of the Americans in political matters, 
the extent of their settlements southward, the fact 
that they had penetrated to Puget Sound in the north, 
the feeling of helplessness on the part of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, which impelled them to come under the 
provisional government for their own safety — it is ' 
easy to see what lights he could throw on the desira- 

1 See Documents relative to Warre and Vavasour's Military- 
Reconnaissance in Oregon, 1846. Edited by Joseph Schafer, 
Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, X, pp. 1-99. 



184 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

bility of securing a settlement of the boundary. Peel, 
who had visited California also, summed up his im- 
pressions by declaring : " The American settlements 
on the Willamette, running south, and those on the 
Sacramento running north, will . . . very soon unite. 
Their junction will render the possession of port San 
Francisco to the Americans inevitable. . . ." 

Its possible influence. The clear knowledge of 
conditions in Oregon interpreted to the British gov- 
ernment the American attitude on the Oregon ques- 
tion. They now knew why our government refused 
to accede to the offer of the Columbia boundary, even 
with port privileges to the north ; they knew, also, why 
Congress was so determined to bring the Oregon ques- 
tion to an issue, even if that issue meant war. 

With this knowledge in their possession, the British 
government was politically in position to recede from 
the principles of the Canning boundary without loss of 
parliamentary or popular support. We now know 
that Lord Aberdeen at least, and possibly also Sir 
Robert Peel, had long been ready, as individuals, to 
accept the forty-ninth parallel boundary, with modifi- 
cations as to Vancouver's Island, the free use of the 
northern ports and of the Columbia River for com- 
mercial purposes. 1 But the cabinet, the Parliament, 
and the country must be educated to the necessity of 
giving up Canning's policy and this made necessary a 

x This fact is revealed in a private letter of Aberdeen to Pak- 
enham dated March 4, 1844. 



The Oregon Boundary Settled 185 

complete exposition of the new status of the two na- 
tions relative to the Oregon territory. 

A treaty proposed by Britain; accepted and 
signed. Finally, at the psychological moment as it 
proved, Lord Aberdeen submitted a proposal in the 
form of a treaty draft. It made the forty-ninth par- 
allel the boundary to the sea, but gave the British the 
whole of Vancouver's Island, with the freedom of the 
ports in that region and also the freedom of navigating 
the Columbia. President Polk asked the Senate's ad- 
vice on this treaty and was urged to accept it. The 
treaty was concluded June 15, 1846. 1 

1 For almost half a century the public has heard much, at 
times, about the influence Dr. Marcus Whitman exerted upon 
the course of the Oregon negotiations. So vigorous has been 
the discussion of this question that a voluminous literature of the 
subject is now in existence in the form of books, pamphlets, and 
newspaper or magazine articles. Space limitations forbid the 
presentation here of even a small proportion of the titles. Per- 
haps the most thorogoing statement of the Whitman-saved- 
Oregon theory is found in Myron Eells's " Marcus Whitman, 
Pathfinder and Patriot." The most searching criticism of the 
claim that Whitman saved Oregon is in Edward G. Bourne's 
"Essays in Historical Criticism," under the title "The Whitman 
Legend." Much documentary material on the subject is found 
in William I. Marshall's " Acquisition of Oregon." 

The present writer, while regarding Whitman as a noble Chris- 
tian pioneer and missionary and while anxious to give him credit 
for every service he performed for Oregon, cannot subscribe to 
the theory that Whitman saved Oregon, or that he had any sub- 
stantial influence beyond that of other important missionaries or 
pioneers upon the course of the history which eventuated in the 
boundary treaty of 1846. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE TERRITORY OF OREGON 

News of the conclusion of the treaty reached Ore- 
gon on the 3d of December, 1846, nearly six months 
after the event. The people assumed that the Con- 
gress, at the session then commencing, would estab- 
lish a territorial government for Oregon. This was 
the desire of President Polk also, and indeed a bill 
for that purpose passed the House of Representatives 
but it failed to make headway in the Senate. 

The reason was not far to seek. In drawing up 
the constitution of their provisional government the 
pioneers inserted the famous clause from the Ordi- 
nance of 1787, declaring that " neither slavery nor in- 
voluntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
crime," should ever be permitted in the territory. 
This was made a part of the Oregon bill presented by 
Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, and very naturally 
called out the opposition of strong pro-slavery leaders 
like Calhoun. 

President Polk and Senator Benton encourage 
the Oregon people. So the congressional session of 
1 846- 1 847 closed with no provision for Oregon. 
The President felt a deep interest in this far western 
settlement, and caused Secretary of State Buchanan to 

186 



The Territory of Oregon 187 

write a letter to the Oregon people encouraging them 
to expect favourable action at the next session of Con- 
gress (1847-1848), which was already at hand when 
the letter reached the Pacific. Buchanan made no 
clear statement of the reason for the failure of the 
Douglas bill. At about the same time, however, a 
letter was received in Oregon from Senator Thomas 
H. Benton, who threw the blame upon Calhoun, but 
declared : " You will not be outlawed for not ad- 
mitting slavery. ... I promise you this in the name 
of the South, as well as of the North. . . ." 

Congress again asked to pass a bill; startling 
news from Oregon. It was something to know that 
the leaders at the national capital still remembered 
them; yet the pioneers had been patient for a long 
time, waiting for the government to give them some 
sort of recognition; and now that the quarrel with 
Great Britain was closed, it was hard for them to un- 
derstand why action should be longer delayed. Presi- 
dent Polk was as good as his word, recommending 
strongly to the next Congress the passage of an Ore- 
gon bill. But the opposition was at work once more, 
as in the previous year, and might have been equally 
successful but for a piece of startling news carried 
across the mountains during the winter that roused 
public feeling in favour of Oregon, and practically 
forced Congress to act. This was the report of the 
Whitman massacre, into the causes and the history of 
which we must now inquire. 

The up-river missions and their problems. The 



1 88 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

missions planted on the upper Columbia by Dr. Whit- 
man and his associates in 1836 and the years follow- 
ing were influenced very little by the colonizing move- 
ment described in the preceding chapters. Their loca- 
tion on the broad interior plains prevented them from 
quickly becoming centres of extensive settlements like 
the Willamette mission, so favourably located near the 
coast. Therefore, while western Oregon had been 
growing into a state, the up-river missionaries were 
labouring faithfully to teach the elements of civiliza- 
tion to a horde of barbarous natives. For a few years 
their success was sufficient to bring considerable en- 
couragement. But, as the novelty of the new life and 
teaching wore off, the interest also slackened ; Catholic 
priests came into the country, teaching by different 
methods from those used by the Protestants, and, as 
we have seen, this tended to disturb the relations be- 
tween the missionaries and their wards. Worse than 
all, a number of dissipated, renegade Americans wan- 
dered among the tribes, doing all the mischief in 
their power. 

Action of the American board closing the south- 
ern missions. At last discouragements mounted to 
such a height that the American board at Boston, 
regarding the work in Oregon as partly a fail- 
ure, passed a resolution to close the missions at 
Waiilatpu and Lapwai, retaining only the one in the 
north. 1 News of this action reached Dr. Whitman in 
the fall of 1842. A meeting of the missionaries was 

1 This action was probably due to exaggerated reports of the 



The Territory of Oregon 189 

at once called, and an agreement reached that the mis- 
sions should not be given up. Moreover, Dr. Whit- 
man asked and received permission from the assembly 
to return to the East and lay the whole matter before 
the board in person. 

Whitman s famous winter ride, October to April, 
1 842-1 843. Whitman left his station on the Walla 
Walla October 3, 1842, with a single white compan- 
ion, Mr. A. L. Love joy, expecting to cross the moun- 
tains before the snows of winter set in. This he 
might readly have accomplished had all gone well; 
but on reaching Fort Hall he learned that the In- 
dians were likely to arrest his progress if he should 
continue by the direct road, and therefore he turned 
south, making the long detour by Taos and Bent's 
Fort. On this journey winter overtook the travellers, 
violent storms and deep snows impeded their march; 
while the biting cold, exposure, and lack of proper 
food would have destroyed any but the most hardy 
pioneers. At last, early in January, they reached 
Bent's Fort, where Love joy remained till the follow- 
ing summer, while Whitman pushed on to St. Louis 
and thence to Boston and Washington. 

Whitman in the East. We are fortunate in hav- 
ing two accounts of this intrepid missionary when he 
reached the Atlantic coast. 1 He wore his wilderness 

difficulties in Oregon written by one or two men formerly con- 
nected with the missions. 

1 One is Horace Greeley's editorial, in the New York Tribune 
(daily) of March 29, 1843; the other a letter to the New York 



190 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

garb — fur cap, buckskin trousers, and all — to the 
city of New York and into the office of the great 
editor, Horace Greeley, who described him, referring 
to his clothing, as " the roughest man we have seen 
this many a day." Again, on board the steamboat 
Narragansett, going from New York to Boston, he 
impressed a traveller as one of the strangest figures 
that had " ever passed through the Sound since the 
days of steam navigation " ; yet, " that he was every 
inch a man and no common one was clear." At Bos- 
ton he succeeded in getting the board to withdraw its 
order to abandon the southern missions. He wished 
them to send out a few good families to settle about 
the stations as supports to the missionaries. At 
Washington he urged the Secretary of War to estab- 
lish along the Oregon trail a line of forts and farming 
stations, which might serve as a protection against the 
Indians and also furnish emigrants with needed sup- 
plies. By the middle of May he was back at Inde- 
pendence, ready to take up the line of march with the 
great company gathering there. We have already 
spoken of his important services on the route. 

Decline of missions, 1 843-1 847. Although the 
Indians welcomed Whitman back in the fall of 1843, 
with every indication of pleasure at his safe return, 
yet from this time the missionaries gradually lost their 
power over the surrounding peoples. 1 Their letters 

Spectator, published April 5, 1843. Both are reprinted in the 
Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society for June, 1903. 

1 Mr. Spalding, indeed, wrote in June, 1843, that " the cause 



The Territory of Oregon 191 

thenceforth contained many complaints, showing that 
conditions were becoming more and more dishearten- 
ing. By the close of the year 1845 it seemed to them 
that the only thing that could save the missions was 
the settlement of Christian families in the country, as 
Whitman had advocated for several years. But such 
help failed to come, and the lonely workers in this 
great wilderness were left alone to meet the awful 
fate which was about to engulf them. 

The crisis reached, 1847; causes of hostility. 
Before the end of the summer of 1847 m ^ny of the 
Cayuses became so surly and insolent that Whitman 
seems to have thought seriously of abandoning 
Waiilatpu and removing with his family either to the 
Dalles or to the Willamette valley. Unfortunately 
this plan was too long delayed. When the emigrants 
of that year arrived, many of their children were sick 
with the measles, a disease which soon spread rapidly 
among the Indians as well. Dr. Whitman treated both 

of religion and of civilization has steadily advanced among this 
people from the beginning." He declared that at his station 
twelve Indians were members of the church, and more than 
fifty had been received on probation; the school, which was ex- 
ceptionally prosperous, had increased from one hundred to two 
hundred and thirty-four, chiefs and other great men as well as 
the children learning to read and to print. Sixty families had 
each raised over one hundred bushels of grain, and the herds 
were increasing rapidly. There is scarcely a doubt, however, 
that so far as the school was concerned, and probably in other 
respects, Lapwai was at this time the most prosperous of the 
mission stations, and this report is the most cheering one that 
we get. 



192 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the whites and the Indians; but while the former 
usually recovered quickly, the latter, on account of 
their unwholesome mode of life, died off in alarming 
numbers. It is not surprising that this was so, but it 
could not be expected that the natives would under- 
stand the true reason for it. What they saw was that 
Whitman was saving the whites and letting their own 
people perish. Nay, was he not actually causing their 
death by administering poison instead of the medicine 
he pretended to be giving them? This suspicion took 
fast hold upon the minds of the Cayuses, and was the 
immediate cause of their determination to kill Dr. 
Whitman as they were accustomed to kill sorcerers in 
their own tribe, who, as they believed, sometimes 
caused deaths among them. 

The massacre, November 29, 1847. The blow 
fell on the afternoon of the 29th of November, 1847, 
when Dr. Whitman, his wife, and seven other persons 
at the mission were put to death in the most barbarous 
manner. Five more victims followed within a few 
days; while half a hundred women and children, 
largely emigrants who were stopping at the sta- 
tion, were held as captives in one of the mission 
houses. 

Rescue of the prisoners. The Indians supposed 
that by keeping control of these helpless ones they 
could save themselves from the vengeance of the white 
settlers in Oregon; for they gave out word that all 
captives would be put to death at the first news of war 
from down the river. Fortunately, before this came, 



The Territory of Oregon 193 

Peter Skeen Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company 
arrived from Vancouver, pushing through at the ut- 
most speed on learning of the massacre, to try to save 
the captives. It was no easy matter to do this; but 
by exerting all his influence and authority, Mr. Ogden 
finally succeeding in ransoming not alone those at 
Waiilatpu, but the people at the Spalding mission as 
well — a total of fifty-seven persons. All were taken 
down the river, finding friends and homes among the 
settlers of the Willamette valley, where they were soon 
joined by the missionaries from the northern station. 1 
Declaration of war. When the news of the mas- 
sacre reached the Willamette valley (December 8), it 
produced the wildest alarm. No one knew how far 
this atrocity might be the result of a union among the 
up-river tribes for the purpose of destroying all of the 
white people in Oregon. They proposed, however, 
not to wait till the Indians could reach the valley, but 
to send a force of men up the river at once. So great 
was the excitement and enthusiasm that in a single day 
a company of troops was raised, equipped as well as 
possible, furnished with a flag made by the women of 
Oregon City, and hurried forward to the scene of 
danger. In a short time an entire regiment was pro- 
vided, by means of which, in the space of a few 
months, the Cayuses were severely punished, and 

1 A generation after these events took place Jesse Applegate 
alluded feelingly to this service of Mr. Ogden as "an act of 
pure mercy and philanthropy, which money could neither hire 
nor reward." 



194 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

peace with its blessings was once more restored to the 
Oregon colony. 1 

Strong feeling against Congress. But the war 
was a severe drain upon the people. The provisional 
government had no funds, and money had to be raised 
in order to keep men in the field. The difficulty was 
nobly met; well-to-do settlers, merchants, and others 
loaned money, and farmers generally furnished sup- 
plies of grain and other food. Large quantities of 
goods were purchased of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
practically as a loan, although individual settlers gave 
their notes by way of security. It was generally ex- 
pected that the United States government would take 
this burden of debt upon itself, this being the least it 
could do to make amends for leaving the people of 
Oregon so long defenceless. At this crucial time, when 
the colony was shrouded in the darkest gloom, men re- 
membered the numerous appeals which had vainly 
gone up from this far-off valley to the national capital, 
and a feeling of bitterness against a seemingly un- 
grateful government was mingled with their grief and 
fears. Had Congress done its duty, so they believed, 
this evil would not have befallen them. 

Last memorial to Congress. In the excitement of 
those December days the Oregon leaders prepared a 
ringing memorial to the national legislature, and started 
" Joe " Meek eastward to carry it to Washington. 
" Having called upon the government so often in vain," 

1 The Indians who committed the murders were afterward se- 
cured, tried, and executed. 



The Territory of Oregon 195 

they say, " we have almost despaired of receiving its 
protection ; yet we trust that our present situation, when 
fully laid before you, will at once satisfy your honour- 
able body of the necessity of extending the strong arm 
of guardianship and protection over this distant, but 
beautiful portion of the United States' domain. Our 
relations with the proud and powerful tribes of Indians 
residing east of the Cascade Mountains, hitherto uni- 
formly amicable and pacific, have recently assumed quite 
a different character. They have shouted the war 
whoop, and crimsoned their tomahawks in the blood of 
our citizens. . . . Circumstances warrant your memo- 
rialists in believing that many of the powerful tribes 
. . . have formed an alliance for the purpose of carry- 
ing on hostilities against our settlements. ... To re- 
pel the attacks of so formidable a foe, and protect our 
families and property from violence and rapine, will 
require more strength than we possess ... we have a 
right to expect your aid, and you are in justice bound 
to extend it. . . . If it be at all the intention of our 
honoured parent to spread her guardian wings over her 
sons and daughters in Oregon, she surely will not refuse 
to do it now, when they are struggling with all the ills 
of a weak and temporary government, and when perils 
are daily thickening around them, and preparing to 
burst upon their heads. When the ensuing summer's 
sun shall have dispelled the snow from the mountains, 
we shall look with glowing hopes and restless anxiety 
for the coming of your laws and your arms." 
The news in Washington. Joe Meek, accompanied 



196 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

by nine sturdy associates, set out from the headquarters 
of the army at Waiilatpu on the 4th of March, 1848, 
and in just sixty-six days reached St. Joseph, Missouri. 
Six days later (May 17) he arrived at St. Louis, and 
now the dreadful story of the Whitman massacre was 
flashed all over the land, producing a feeling of sym- 
pathy and anxiety for the Oregon people that nothing 
in their previous history had been able to excite. Meek 
went to Washington and laid his dispatches before 
President Polk. They were at once sent to Congress, 
together with a message calling on that body to act, and 
act quickly, in order that troops might be hurried to the 
defence of Oregon before the end of the summer. 
Great haste was not possible, for the question of slavery 
was beginning to overshadow all else, and the strong- 
est passions were aroused on this subject in the course 
of the debate on the Oregon bill. Yet so much general 
interest was felt in the safety of Oregon that the meas- 
ure was finally passed, just before the adjournment of 
Congress, August 13, after a continuous session of 
twenty-one hours. 

The territory of Oregon ; General Lane governor. 
President Polk signed the bill and appointed General 
Joseph Lane of Indiana governor of the territory of 
Oregon. Joe Meek was given the office of United 
States marshal in the new government. Governor 
Lane, Meek, and a number of others started for Oregon 
by way of Santa Fe and California late in August. J 
They succeeded, though with much difficulty, in reach- 
ing San Francisco, where the governor and marshal 



The Territory of Oregon 197 

took ship for the Columbia. They arrived at Oregon 
City March 2, 1849, an d on the following day the new 
territorial government was proclaimed. 1 

1 This was the day before Polk's administration came to an 
end. General Lane acted as governor less than two years, re- 
signing in June, 1850. In 1851 he was elected to represent the 
territory in Congress, and filled the office until 1859, when he 
took his seat as one of the United States senators from Oregon. 
In i860 he was nominated for Vice-President on the ticket with 
John C. Breckenridge. He died in 1881. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 

Conditions in early California. For most Ameri- 
cans the history of the Pacific coast had thus far been 
summed up in the story of Oregon. The Mexican 
(until 182 1 the Spanish) territory south of the parallel 
of 42 had sometimes attracted the notice of public 
men, and once or twice produced some effect upon the 
government's plans concerning Oregon. But until 
about 1840 very little attention was paid to this vast 
province, where four or five thousand people were liv- 
ing in comparative idleness, scattered about through the 
valleys and over the plains of that fair and sunny land. 
The principal occupation was the keeping of herds, 
which required little labour. The " Boston Ships/' as 
the American traders were called, plied up and down 
the long coast line, visiting the harbours and inlets 
where they exchanged groceries and manufactured 
goods for the cartloads of beef hides and bags of tallow 
brought down from the ranches. 

Americans settle in California. Sometimes sail- 
ors, attracted by the easy life of the Calif ornians, de- 
serted from these vessels and became residents in the 
country. Other Americans came overland as hunters 
and trappers, like Jedediah Smith, Ewing Young, and 

198 



The Northwest and California 199 

the Walker party sent out by Captain Bonneville. 
Many of them remained to marry native women, secure 
grants of land, and become citizens. After a time the 
region became pretty well known among the class of 
frontiersmen who were beginning to go to Oregon, and 
in 1 84 1 the first emigrant train made its way overland, 
partly by the Oregon trail, to the Sacramento valley. 
Thereafter the annual migrations to the far West were 
usually divided, a portion branching off at Fort Hall to 
go to California, although Oregon still received by far 
the larger share. 

Captain Sutter and Sutter's Fort. In 1839 Cap- 
tain John A. Sutter, formerly a soldier in the Swiss 
army, went to California by way of Oregon, and in 
1 84 1 he secured from the Mexican governor eleven 
square leagues of land in the Sacramento valley. He 
built a strong fort of adobes on the site of the present 
city of Sacramento, began raising grain and cattle on 
a large scale, and also traded with the Indians for furs. 
Sutter employed a number of Americans upon his 
estate, and by furnishing supplies to others enabled 
them to settle in this interior section of California. 
The fort was on the main emigrant routes from the 
United States and Oregon, which helped to make it in 
a few years the centre of the most important American 
community in the country. 

Rumours of war. The Mexican government was 
not strong during this period even at home, while the 
great distance to California from the Mexican capital, 
the difficulties of communication, and the scattered con- 



200 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

dition of the population made her rule in this province 
so feeble as to be almost ridiculous. The result was 
numerous revolutions, in which the Americans usually 
took part, and such a state of political unrest that men 
accustomed to a settled and strong government could 
scarcely be blamed for wishing a change. The interest 
which the United States already had in Oregon, the 
continued emigration of her people by sea and land to 
California, the letters written back by these emigrants, 
the reports of official visitors and the books of far 
west travellers produced a feeling that our country 
must finally become possessed of the southern as well 
as the northern section of the Pacific coast. After 
1836 there was always danger of war between the 
United States and Mexico over the question of annex- 
ing Texas to the Union, thus increasing the feeling of 
uncertainty respecting California. It was well under- 
stood that in case of hostilities this province would 
doubtless be captured by the American fleet. 1 

The Bear Flag Revolt, June, 1846. By the spring 
of 1846 there were several hundred Americans scat- 
tered through the country, the most numerous body of 
them in the vicinity of Sutter's Fort. Lieutenant 
John C. Fremont, the " Pathfinder," with his surveying 
party, had wintered in California, where he came into 
conflict with the government authorities. He then 

1 In 1842 Commodore Jones, believing that war had broken 
out between the two nations, actually took possession of Monterey 
and hoisted the American flag. He gave up the place a few 
hours later on learning his mistake. 



The Northwest and California 201 

marched north toward Oregon, but turned back from 
Klamath Lake on receiving a visit from Gillespie, a 
secret agent of the United States. The settlers about 
the fort became convinced from his actions that war 
had broken out, and some of them decided that it would 
be the proper thing for them to declare California in- 
dependent of Mexico. This they did at Sonoma, June 
14, 1846, raising the famous lone star flag with the 
rudely painted figure of a bear upon it (the " Bear 
Flag"). 

The war of conquest. Now followed an armed 
conflict, which might perhaps have been avoided, be- 
tween the United States and the Calif ornians. Fre- 
mont took a prominent part, in it, as did also Commo- 
dore Stockton of the American fleet. The United 
States government sent General Kearny to California 
by way of Santa Fe, and after a few months of fight- 
ing the territory came definitely into American hands. 
When the treaty of peace was signed, February 2, 1848, 
the conquest was confirmed to us. A military govern- 
ment had already been established, the laws changed 
somewhat in accordance with American ideas, and a 
new system of administration substituted for that 
formerly maintained by Mexico. 

The gold discovery. It was expected that these 
changes would promote the prosperity of California, 
which might at last hope to become a rival of Oregon 
upon the Pacific coast. 1 But no one dreamed of the 

1 When the Bear Flag Revolt occurred, Captain Sutter (who 
was a German Swiss and never mastered the English language 



202 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

wonderful transformation about to take place. On the 
24th of January, ten days before the treaty of peace 
was signed, James W. Marshall made his world-famous 
discovery of gold on the American River, some fifty 
miles above Sutter's Fort. He and Captain Sutter 
wished to keep the benefits of the find to themselves, 
but the secret escaped, as great secrets usually do, and 
in a few weeks the inhabitants of California were 
hurrying north with shovel and pan, hoping to wash 
quick fortunes out of the sands brought down from 
the mysterious Sierras. So great did the " rush " be- 
come that at San Francisco and other towns ordinary 
lines of business were suspended, stores, warehouses, 
and even printing offices were deserted, and vessels 
touching at San Francisco had to remain in port be- 
cause the crews escaped to the mines. Picks, shovels, 
and pans rose to famine prices. 

The news reaches Oregon, August, 1848. Before 
the summer closed news of the discovery had reached 
Oregon, producing an excitement scarcely less intense 
than that caused by the Indian war just ended. Reso- 
lutions were instantly taken, plans made, and in a few 
days a company was on its way southward. Soon a 
regular tide of travel, on foot, by pack train, and 
wagon, set in across the Siskiyous. Oregon lost within 
a single year a very large proportion of its male in- 

perfectly) wrote exultantly to a friend, " What for progress will 
California make now!" The manuscript letter from which this 
is quoted is in possession of Mr. P. J. Healy of San Francisco, 
who kindly permitted the writer to examine his collection. 



The Northwest and California 203 

habitants. Some of the most prominent men passed 
into this new emigration ; for example, Peter H. Bur- 
nett, soon to become the first governor of the State 
of California. When General Lane and Joe Meek 
reached San Francisco on their way northward, they 
saw numbers of Oregon men, some of whom, leaving 
the Willamette valley or Puget Sound almost penniless, 
were already returning to their families with thousands 
of dollars in gold dust. 

The " Forty-niners " ; progress of California. 
The news was carried across the Rockies, and before 
the arrival of winter hundreds, thousands, on the At- 
lantic coast were preparing for the voyage to Panama, 
expecting to cross the Isthmus and take ship to San 
Francisco. Others in the interior impatiently waited 
till the grass should start in the spring, when twenty- 
five thousand persons, in an almost continuous caravan, 
moved westward to the valley of the Sacramento. But 
this was only the beginning. Month after month, and 
year after year, the excited multitudes pressed on to 
this new El Dorado. All were looking for the golden 
treasure; but while most men sought it in the river 
drift, many took the surer methods of carrying sup- 
plies to the mines, or of cultivating the soil in order to 
produce flour, bacon, fruit, and other necessities which 
during the early years of the gold rush brought such 
fabulous prices. Hundreds of new occupations were 
opened, and fortunes made in the most diverse ways. 
No young western community had ever been advertised 



204 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

as was California during these years; and few, even of 
the most prosperous, had grown as rapidly as she. 

San Francisco the commercial emporium of the 
Pacific coast. The mining camps were soon extended 
so as to embrace a large portion of the territory west 
of the Sierras; towns like Stockton and Sacramento 
grew up as interior supply stations; while San Fran- 
cisco, at the great harbour of California, rose at one 
bound to be the place of chief importance among Pacific 
coast seaports. Here was the emporium of all the 
trade of this rapidly growing population, having rela- 
tions with the eastern coast, with Mexico, Central and 
South America, Australia, Hawaii, and in general all 
countries interested in the trade of the great gold- 
producing territory which fortune had recently tossed 
into the lap of the United States. Men from the east- 
ern cities employed their capital and their business skill 
in building up at San Francisco great commercial estab- 
lishments, whose influence has been felt throughout the 
later course of Pacific coast history. They did not 
confine themselves to California, but came northward 
to the Columbia River, to Puget Sound, and the smaller 
harbours along the northwest coast; to the interior 
districts of the Oregon country, wherever opportunities 
for profitable commerce were to be found. San Fran- 
cisco's population of a few hundred in 1848 grew by 
i860 to more than 56,000, in another decade it be- 
came 150,000, and by 1880 exceeded a quarter of a 
million. 

Change in the course of Pacific coast history. 



The Northwest and California 205 

We cannot follow this wonderful movement in detail, 
but it is easy to see that the discovery of gold produced 
startling changes in the relations between the northern 
and southern sections of the Pacific slope. When the 
Oregon bill was before Congress in the spring of 1848, 
some wished to couple with it a bill for a California 
and a New Mexico territory also; but others declared 
that the " native-born " territory of Oregon should not 
be unequally yoked with " territories scarcely a month 
old, and peopled by Mexicans and half -Indian Cali- 
fornians." Two years after this incident California 
had a population, mainly American, of 92,000 and was 
ready for statehood, ten years later she had 380,000, 
and in another decade more than half a million; while 
the territory of Oregon which in 1850 included the 
entire district west of the Rocky Mountains and north 
of California, had in that year less than 14,000 people. 
By 1870 the Pacific Northwest, then divided into the 
state of Oregon and the two territories of Washington 
and Idaho, had a total population of only 130,000 as 
against California's 560,000. 

California overshadows the Northwest. These 
facts tell the story of how the natural course of the 
Pacific coast's development was changed by the magic 
of gold. The long list of American explorers, traders, 
and missionaries, whose deeds and sacrifices glorify 
the early history of the Pacific Northwest, were largely 
forgotten by a nation entranced with the story of the 
" Forty-niners." The far-reaching influence of Ore- 
gon as the oldest American territory on the Pacific 



206 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

coast faded quickly from the memories of men. The 
Oregon Trail was already deep worn through the sand 
hills along the Platte and Sweetwater, Bear River, and 
the Portneuf, by the wagons of the Oregon pioneers; 
it was lined with the crumbling bones of their cattle, 
and marked by the graves of their dead ; yet instantly, 
after the passage of the thronging multitudes of '49, 
it became the " California Trail," and to this day most 
men know it by no other name. California, in a word, 
so completely overshadowed the Northwest in wealth, 
in commerce, and in population, that to the people of 
the country in general this state has seemed to be about 
all of the Pacific coast. 



CHAPTER XV 

PROGRESS AND POLITICS, 1849-1859 

California's debt to the Northwest. The rela- 
tions between the Northwest and California were in 
some respects very close. Those Oregon men who 
went to the gold mines were seasoned pioneers, who had 
already partly conquered and civilized one great sec- 
tion of the Pacific coast. They were a valuable ele- 
ment in the new and mixed population that now poured 
into the southern territory, helping to bring order out 
of disorder, and to establish an effective government 
for the new state as they had already done for their 
own colony. It is of course impossible, as well as un- 
necessary, to measure California's debt to the North- 
west during the early years of the gold rush; but it 
was undoubtedly very great. 

New California helps to create a new Northwest. 
On the other hand, there is much truth in the claim 
that the rapid development of California gave an en- 
tirely new aspect to life in the Northwest. The first 
effect of the gold discovery was to draw away one-half 
or perhaps two-thirds of the able-bodied men of Ore- 
gon, and to leave the country with insufficient labour 
to cultivate the fields already opened. But this was 
only a temporary drawback. The mines afforded a 

207 



208 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

wonderful market for everything the northern region 
could produce. Packers visited the farms, buying up 
the surplus flour, meat, lard, butter, eggs, vegetables, 
and fruits. A large number of boats entered the 
Columbia, ascending to the new village of Portland on 
the Willamette, where they took on cargoes of pro- 
visions as rapidly as these could be collected from up 
the river. Cargoes of lumber were carried away from 
the mills already established, and these proving insuffi- 
cient to meet the demand, others were built and put 
into operation at various points along the Columbia. 
Farmers, merchants, labourers, manufacturers, specu- 
lators, in fact all classes of settlers in Oregon reaped a 
magnificent harvest from the filling up of California, 
and the new wealth of gold. Debts were cancelled, 
homes improved, and the conditions of life made easier 
and more pleasant than they had been in the strictly 
pioneer time ; new enterprises of all sorts were started 
in the Willamette settlement, machinery was imported 
for the use of the farmer, roads opened, and steamboats 
placed upon the rivers. The new territorial govern- 
ment, which fortunately came just at the beginning of 
the new age, was of great benefit to the people in many 
ways. Among other things it enabled them to make 
some provision for a system of common schools, 1 and 

1 The pioneers of the Northwest showed commendable enter- 
prise in the establishment of high-grade schools, the earliest of 
which was the Oregon Institute founded by the Methodist mis- 
sionaries at Salem in 1841. It afterward grew into the Willa- 
mette University. The second was Tualatin Academy, the be- 
ginning of Pacific University. Common schools were also main- 



Progress and Politics, 1 849-1 859 209 

to secure for this region a cheaper, more frequent, and 
regular mail service. Under these circumstances the 
population increased much more rapidly than formerly ; 
in spite of the glittering attractions of California prop- 
erty rose in value and general prosperity prevailed. 

Prosperity of the Puget Sound colony. When 
the discovery of gold was first reported in the autumn 
of 1848, there were only a few settlers on Puget Sound, 
most of whom were engaged in making shingles and 
getting out timber for the Hudson's Bay Company. 
This was almost their only means of securing the sup- 
plies needed to support their families. About twenty- 
five of the men immediately set out for the gold mines, 
leaving a very small remnant of population in the 
country. In a few months many of them returned with 
an abundance of money, to be used in making improve- 
ments. Samuel Hancock tells us that when he came 
back to Olympia in the fall of 1849, after spending a 
year in the mines, " everything bore the impress of 
prosperity." Among other things a grist mill had been 
erected, which was of great benefit to the community. 

Beginnings of lumbering on Puget Sound. The 
settlement on Puget Sound received special benefits 
from the great demand for lumber which came from 
San Francisco and the other California towns. No 
portion of the Pacific Northwest was better fitted by 
nature to supply this need ; for here the forests usually 
came down to the water's edge, while many of the 

tained by private subscription before the public school system 
went into effect. 



210 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

smaller inlets, some of them excellent harbours for 
ocean vessels, afforded the very best sites for sawmills. 
Early in the year 1849 the brig Orbit put into Budd's 
Inlet (Olympia) for a load of piles. This was the 
beginning of the lumber trade with San Francisco. In 
a short time mills were running near Olympia (Turn- 
water), at the mouth of the Dewamish (Seattle), at 
Steilacoom, Cape Flattery, New Dungeness, Port 
Townsend and other places. With lumber selling at 
sixty dollars per thousand feet, as it did for a time, the 
business was immensely profitable. 

The discovery of coal. Aside from lumber the 
California communities were in great need of fuel, and 
the people of San Francisco made anxious inquiries 
about the possibility of getting coal near the harbours 
of the northwest coast. An inferior quality of coal 
had been found north of the Columbia before 1850. 
In 1 85 1 Samuel Hancock began searching near Puget 
Sound, and with the help of the natives found what 
seemed to be an important deposit of this useful min- 
eral. Other discoveries were made at later times on 
Bellingham Bay, near Seattle, and at other points all 
convenient to good harbours. Some of these were 
soon worked, with the result that thousands of tons of 
coal were shipped to San Francisco annually. All of 
these things brought about a very prosperous condi- 
tion in the little colony. 

Increase in population. Since the country south of 
the Columbia had been settling up for a comparatively 
long time, the lands there had been pretty carefully 



Progress and Politics, 1 849-1 859 211 

picked over; and this fact, together with the commer- 
cial advantages of Puget Sound, caused some of the 
emigrants of these years to go northward in search of 
homes. The lumber mills gave employment, while the 
explorations in search of coal, and for other purposes, 
were bringing to light new farming lands in the rich 
valleys back from the Sound, where the settlers now 
began to take claims. But for several years little prog- 
ress was made in agriculture, flour and seed grain actu- 
ally being imported from San Francisco at great ex- 
pense in exchange for a portion of the lumber sent 
down. The census of 1850 gives 11 11 as the total 
population north of the Columbia. Three years later 
a special enumeration showed 3965. In that year, for 
the first time, Puget Sound drew a considerable part of 
the emigration to the Northwest, thirty-five wagons 
crossing the Cascades by a new road which the northern 
settlers had opened from the Yakima River to Olym- 
pia. 

Agitation for a territorial government. The peo- 
ple about Puget Sound found themselves completely 
separated from those on the Willamette, and living as 
it were in a world of their own. This was due largely 
to the difficulty of communication between the Colum- 
bia River and the Sound. The feeling was strength- 
ened by the 'fact that all the regular trade of this sec- 
tion was with San Francisco. Since their situation 
rendered them independent of the Columbia River 
commercially, they came to believe that their country 
should also have a separate government. Agitation 



212 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

for dividing the territory began in 1851, and the next 
year matters were brought to a head. In September, 
1852, a newspaper called the Columbian 1 was begun 
at Olympia for the purpose of advocating the project, 
and one month later (October 27) a meeting was held 
which determined on choosing delegates to a conven- 
tion. This was to decide whether or not to ask Con- 
gress to erect the district north and west of the Colum- 
bia into a territorial government. Although some of 
the people living along the river, to whom Oregon City 
was more convenient than Olympia, objected to the 
plan, the proposed meeting was held on the 25th of 
November, and a memorial asking for the change sent 
to General Lane, who then represented the territory in 
Congress. On the 15th of January, 1853, the Oregon 
legislature, sympathizing with the demand of the north- 
ern settlements, adopted a similar memorial ; but before 
this reached him Lane had introduced a bill for creat- 
ing the territory of Columbia. It passed on the 10th 
of February, 1853, with the name Washington substi- 
tuted for Columbia, a change with which the people of 
the new territory were very well satisfied. General 
Isaac I. Stevens, who had been commissioned to survey 
a northern route for a Pacific railroad, was appointed 

1 Files of this paper, from September, 1852, to December, 1853, 
the entire period of its existence, as well as complete files of the 
Pioneer and Democrat, and the Puget Sound Herald, were con- 
sulted in the private library of Hon. C. B. Bagley of Seattle. 
The writer also obtained from Mr. Bagley the loan of his files of 
the Washington Statesman, Walla Walla, which proved invalu- 
able for the study of the early history of the " Inland Empire." 



Progress and Politics, 1 849-1 859 213 

governor. He arrived at Olympia on the 26th of 
November, 1853, and the new organization was put in 
operation. 1 

Beginnings of settlement in southern Oregon. 
As the gold discovery promoted the prosperity of the 
Willamette valley and Puget Sound, so it led also to the 
planting of new communities in other favourable dis- 
tricts of the Northwest. The region known as south- 
ern Oregon contains the two important valleys of the 
Umpqua and Rogue rivers. It had already become 
known to the pioneers, partly through explorations for 
a southern emigrant road made in 1846 under the di- 
rection of Jesse Applegate. A portion of the emigra- 
tion of that and the following years came to the Willa- 
mette over this route; and when Oregon men began 
going to the gold mines of California, the country be- 
came still better known. Wagons and pack trains, 
men on foot and on horseback, were continually pass- 
ing back and forth; so that it was not long before a 
few individuals, impressed with the beauty of the land- 
scape, the excellence of the grass and water, and the 

1 General Stevens was a trained soldier and engineer, a gradu- 
ate of West Point. His success in finding a practicable line 
for a railroad immediately gave him great influence with the peo- 
ple of Washington, who believed thoroughly in the future of 
their section. He served as governor till 1857, was then elected 
delegate to Congress from the territory, remaining in that posi- 
tion till the breaking out of the Civil War, when he went to the 
field of action. He was killed while gallantly leading his divi- 
sion at Chantilly. The " Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens," by Haz- 
ard Stevens, 2 vols., Boston, 1900, gives a full account of his serv- 
ices and much valuable matter on the history of the Northwest. 



214 d. History of the Pacific Northwest 

opportunities for farming and stock raising, began to 
think of locating claims in these valleys. 

The Umpqua valley. Jesse Applegate, who was 
the most noted explorer of southern Oregon, was him- 
self led to settle in Umpqua valley. 1 In the spring 
of 1850, he with a number of others organized a com- 
pany to take up lands and establish town sites. It 
happened that while these pioneers were making their 
way down toward the sea, they met a party of Cali- 
fornians who had entered the Umpqua by ship for the 
same purpose. The two companies thus accidentally 
brought together formed a new association which un- 
dertook to colonize the Umpqua valley. Settlers and 
miners quickly overran the region. The county of 
Umpqua, embracing the whole of southern Oregon, 
was created by the territorial legislature in 1851. 

Rogue River and the southern coast. The valley 
of Rogue River received settlers about the same time, 
and here the influence of gold discoveries was strongly 
felt. California miners had already prospected the 
Sierras to the borders of the Oregon country; and just 
at the close of the year 185 1 rich placer mines were dis- 
covered on Jackson Creek, a branch of Rogue River. 
A new rush began, Calif ornians and Oregonians both 
taking part in it, so that in a very short time the village 
of Jacksonville had a population of several hundred, 
and a number of other mining centres were established 

1 He founded and named the town Yoncalla, which became 
his home. General Lane also took a claim in this valley, near 
the town of Roseburg, and spent his declining years in retirement. 



Progress and Politics, 1849-18 59 215 

in the same neighbourhood. Settlers pushed in at the 
same time to take up the fertile lands along the Rogue 
River and its branches. While these things were going 
forward in the upper portions of the valleys of south- 
ern Oregon, settlements were also begun near the 
mouths of the rivers, especially at Port Orford and 
about Coos Bay. The discovery of coal near Coos 
Bay gave it a large trade with San Francisco. The 
various centres of population were connected with one 
another by means of mountain roads and trails; the 
interest in gold mining stimulated emigration, and a 
population of several thousand people was soon to be 
found within this territory, which at the beginning of 
the California gold rush was an absolute wilderness, 
occupied by native barbarians. 

Indian outbreaks ; the Rogue River War. When 
the early missionaries and settlers came to Oregon they 
found the Indians under the control of the Hudson's 
Bay Fur Company, whose officers were able to secure 
for the whites such lands and other privileges as the 
Indians had to bestow. The company was very suc- 
cessful in preventing conflicts between the two races. 
Only rarely were the settlers molested by the natives 
during these years, the most notable exception being the 
Whitman massacre in 1847. When the United States 
took control, in 1849, the situation had become more 
difficult to handle. Settlers were by this time becom- 
ing numerous; the Indians had begun to fear for the 
safety of their lands, and they were not yet convinced 
of the national government's power. Soon afterward 



216 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

troubles began, especially in the newly occupied terri- 
tory of southern Oregon, where miners and travellers 
were occasionally murdered, and settlers driven from 
their lands. In some cases, it must be confessed, the 
whites were to blame as well as the red men. But the 
time soon came when the tribes of southern Oregon 
were ready to go on the war path, and then hundreds 
of innocent persons suffered the untold horrors which 
have always marked such savage outbreaks. Men 
were shot down on the highway or in the field ; at dead 
of night unprotected families were besieged in their 
cabins, the men killed outright, the women and children 
enslaved, and homes burned to the ground ; sometimes 
whole settlements were either massacred or driven 
away. This war, usually called, from the most ter- 
rible of the tribes concerned in it, the Rogue River 
War, began in 185 1. It lasted, with some intermis- 
sions, till 1856, when the Indians, being removed to 
reservations, the settlers were at last secure in the pos- 
session of their homes. 1 

Other Indian wars. Southern Oregon was not the 
only section of the Northwest to suffer from the up- 
rising of the natives during this period. On Puget 
Sound, too, the Indians began to murder white men as 
early as 1850, though no general outbreak occurred un- 
til several years later. In 1 854-1 855 General Stevens, 
as superintendent of Indian affairs, made treaties with 

1 In this war General Lane performed most important services 
for Oregon, both as warrior and peacemaker. The Indians stood 
in great awe of him. 



Progress and Politics, 1 849-1 859 217 

nearly all of the tribes both in eastern and western 
Washington, and it was supposed that these would put 
an end to all conflict between the two races. But as a 
matter of fact the natives, seeing the country filling up 
with white people, were about ready for a general war 
in defence of what they considered to be their own 
country. The situation here was not different from 
that which brought on the great Indian wars in other 
sections of the United States. Just as New England 
had its King Philip's War, and the middle West its 
struggles with Tecumseh and Black Hawk, so the peo- 
ple of the Pacific Northwest, when settlement threat- 
ened to crowd the Indians off their lands, were forced 
to meet great combinations of native tribes under Chief 
John, Leschi, Kamiakin, and others. Except in south- 
ern Oregon, these wars came mainly in the years 1855- 
1858. They included many harrowing incidents, like 
the murder of the settlers in White River valley near 
Puget Sound, the daring attack upon the little village 
of Seattle in the spring of 1856, the slaughter of the 
emigrants on the Malheur River, and massacres at the 
Cascades. The United States government maintained 
troops at various places throughout the Northwest, and 
in some cases these rendered effective service dur- 
ing the Indian war ; but their numbers were too small to 
meet the great emergency, while difficulties arose be- 
tween the territorial officers and the military command- 
ers that caused the burden of the war to fall mainly 
upon the people themselves. Volunteer companies 
were called into the field, who with some severe fighting 



218 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

and much attendant hardship were able to bring this 
distressing period to a close. The Indians here as else- 
where found it necessary to accept the bounty of Con- 
gress in the shape of a reservation, with pay for the 
lands which they gave up to the government. Most of 
the treaties went into effect in 1859. 

The Oregon constitutional convention, August to 
September, 1857. Several years prior to the close of 
the Indian wars, the question of statehood for Oregon 
began to be seriously discussed, and in 1856 a bill for 
admitting the territory into the Union was introduced 
in Congress by General Lane. Though this failed, 
another bill passed the House at the next session, au- 
thorizing the people to frame a state constitution. It 
did not pass the Senate, but the legislature of Oregon 
Territory had already provided for submitting the ques- 
tion of holding a convention to the voters at the June 
(1857) election. It was carried by a large majority, 
delegates were chosen from the several counties, and on 
the third Monday in August the convention met in the 
town of Salem. September 18 a state constitution was 
adopted, which being submitted to the people was rati- 
fied by a vote of 7195 in favor to 3195 against. The 
state government went into operation in July, 1858, 
although Oregon was not formally admitted to the 
Union till the 14th of February, 1859. 1 

1 The population of Oregon in i860 was 52,465, and of Wash- 
ington Territory, 11,594. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE INLAND EMPIRE 

Extent and character of the Inland Empire. The 

Indian wars of the Pacific Northwest, like those of 
New England, western New York, and various sections 
of the Mississippi valley, were followed by a period in 
which population spread rapidly over previously un- 
occupied territory. Thus far settlement had been 
practically confined to the region between the Cascade 
Mountains and the Pacific, including the Willamette 
valley, Puget Sound, the Cowlitz and Columbia dis- 
tricts, the valleys of southern Oregon, and a few points 
near the seacoast. This was only a small part of the 
Oregon country, the eastern section, from the Cas- 
cades to the Rockies, containing more than three times 
as large an area. Above the point where the Colum- 
bia breaks through the Cascades, one hundred and 
ninety miles from the sea, it receives branches from 
the north whose sources lie far beyond the American 
boundary of 49 , others from the south rising below 
the 426. parallel, and still others from every part of 
the west slope of the Rockies between these two bound- 
ary lines. They drain an American territory embrac- 
ing about two hundred thousand square miles, nearly 
one-fourth larger than the combined areas of the New 

219 



220 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

England states, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsyl- 
vania. A portion of it is occupied by the forested 
ranges of the Bitter Root and Blue mountains; but in 
general it is a region of great plains and elevated 
plateaus, relieved by wooded valleys and gently sloping 
hills. The climate, soil, and productions, all vary 
greatly from those of western Oregon, and the natives 
were superior to the western Indians in intellect as 
well as in strength, energy, and warlike valour. 

Its agricultural possibilities begin to be under- 
stood. Owing to the light rainfall over the greater 
portion of the Inland Empire, some early travellers 
pronounced the entire region unfit to be the home of 
civilized man. But the missionaries proved that the 
natural grasses afforded excellent pasturage for cattle 
and sheep, 1 and that the soil in many places would pro- 
duce bounteous crops of grain and vegetables even 
without irrigation, while with an artificial supply of 
water surprising results could be obtained. Several of 
the valleys, like Walla Walla and the Grand Ronde, 
which lay in the path of the emigrants to Oregon, at- 
tracted the attention of the pioneers at an early time by 
the evident fertility of their lands; and as early as 
1847 ^ seemed certain that the first of these would 
soon be occupied by farmers. But the Whitman mas- 
sacre of that year destroyed these prospects, and an- 

x Dr. Whitman wrote in October, 1847, just before his death: 
" The interior of Oregon is unrivalled by any country for the 
grazing of stock, of which sheep is the best. This interior will 
now be sought after." 



The Inland Empire 221 

other decade was to pass away before plans of settle- 
ment could be resumed. In the meantime other sec- 
tions of the Inland Empire were beginning to receive 
attention on account of the rich farming lands they 
were supposed to contain. 

General Stevens's observations. When General 
Stevens reached Olympia, in November, 1853, after 
completing the survey of the northern railroad route, he 
declared to the people of Puget Sound that there were 
several great stretches of territory in eastern Washing- 
ton which invited settlement. " I can speak advisedly," 
he says, " of the beautiful St. Mary's valley just west 
of the Rocky Mountains and stretching across the 
whole breadth of the territory ; of the plain fifty miles 
wide bordering the south bank of the Spokane River; 
of the valley extending from Spokane River to Colville; 
of the Cceur d'Alene Prairie of six hundred square 
miles ; the Walla Walla valley. The Nez Perces coun- 
try is said to be rich as well as the country bordering 
on the Yakima River." 

The Indian war prevents settlement. His treaties 
with the native tribes soon afterward were expected to 
throw some of these tracts open, and other treaties 
made about the same time with the Indians of eastern 
Oregon looked to the settlement of portions of that 
country. But when the Indians went on the war path 
in 1855 this entire region, except a small district pro- 
tected by the military post at the Dalles, was once more 
closed to the peaceful tiller of the soil. The prairies 
and open river valleys, instead of being dotted over 



222 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

with settlers' cabins or the white-sheeted wagons of 
emigrants, were traversed in all directions by files of 
marching men, and troops of gallant cavalry. Yet 
this only served to make the whole country more famil- 
iar to the people of western Oregon and Washington, 
and to increase the desire to settle there as soon as the 
Indian troubles should be over. 

Gold hunting east of the Cascades. By this time 
(1859) there was an additional motive for emigration 
to the Inland Empire. Even before the Indian war 
there had been more or less prospecting for gold in the 
eastern country, and in 1855 discoveries were made at 
Colville, though at that time little could be done with 
them. In the years 1857-1858 occurred a rush to 
Fraser River in British Columbia. For a time it was 
supposed this region would prove very rich; but soon 
disappointments crowded upon the Americans who had 
gone there, and a great outpouring took place. The 
men who left these mines spread over and prospected 
large sections of the eastern country, with results only 
less wonderful than those obtained in California ten 
years earlier. Rich gold districts were opened near 
Colville ; on the Clearwater, Salmon River, Boise River, 
John Day's River, Burnt River, Powder River; the 
Owyhee, Kootenai, Deer Lodge, Beaverhead; the 
Prickly Pear, and other places. Calif ornians streamed 
northward as Oregonians had gone south in '48 and 
'49. Mining camps grew in a few months to towns 
of several thousand people, and sometimes disappeared 
quite as rapidly, when richer diggings were opened else- 



The Inland Empire 223 

where, or water for gold washing failed. By rapid 
stages the prospectors passed up the several branches 
of the Columbia, until they stood once more upon the 
summit of the Rockies, this time coming from the 
west. At South Pass, Helena, and many other camps, 
they met and mingled with the crowds of gold seekers 
arriving from the East. These were " tenderfeet " to 
the rugged men who had spent twelve or fifteen years 
in the mining districts of California, British Columbia, 
eastern Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and who 
rather gloried in the name " yonder siders," applied to 
them by the other class. 

Carrying supplies to the mining camps. When 
the miners turned toward the northeast the pack trains 
headed in the same direction, carrying the eager gold 
seekers with their outfits, and following from camp 
to camp with regular supplies of bacon and flour, picks, 
shovels, pans, quicksilver, and other necessities of the 
business. From ten to fifty horses or mules usually 
made up the train, though sometimes more than one 
hundred animals were employed. They were loaded 
with packs varying from two hundred to four hundred 
pounds. At first many of these trains set out from the 
Willamette valley directly, crossing the Cascade Moun- 
tains; but in a very short time (as early as 1862) the 
Oregon Steam Navigation Company, with headquarters 
at Portland, made arrangements for carrying goods up 
the river as far as old Fort Walla Walla, then as now 
called Wallula. Intermediate points were The Dalles 
and Umatilla Landing. 



224 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Walla Walla a great distributing centre. At 

Walla Walla, located a few miles above the site of the 
Whitman mission, a military post had been established 
in 1856, which soon drew about it a small settlement. 
This place now became the distributing centre for a 
mining region embracing nearly the whole of the east- 
ern country. The Dalles sent goods up the John Day 
valley; Umatilla carried to Powder River, Owyhee, 
Boise Basin, and a few other places in eastern Oregon 
and southern Idaho; but Walla Walla sent its pack 
trains not only to most of these camps, but to Colville, 
Kootenai, the Salmon and the Clearwater, the Prickly 
Pear and the upper Missouri. The trails radiated in 
all directions from this little town, and during the 
packing season long lines of horses and mules were ever 
coming and going. In winter the feeding yards of the 
valley were filled with poor, worn creatures, whose 
scarred backs and ugly girth marks proved the class to 
which they belonged. 1 The packers themselves were 
an important social element in Walla Walla and 
Wallula. Sometimes they gave grand balls which the 
entire community would attend. Many of them were 
enterprising young men who have since made them- 
selves felt in business and professional life. 

The Montana trade by steamboat and wagon. 

1 The number of pack animals maintained in the valley is 
almost incredible. In the winter of 1866- 1867 between five hun- 
dred and six hundred were kept within seven miles of Wallula. 
During ten days in the month of July, 1869, when times were 
dull, trains aggregating five hundred and fifty-nine packs were 
fitted out at Walla Walla. 



The Inland Empire 225 

The Columbia River, though affording with its 
branches over two thousand miles of navigable water, 
is divided into sections by frequent natural obstruc- 
tions like the Cascades, Dalles, Great Falls, and Priest's 
Rapids. As the interior trade grew, the navigation 
company built boats on section after section, until it 
became possible to go from Portland to Lake Pend 
d'Oreille on the North Fork almost wholly by water. 
This development resulted in part from the opening of 
trade with the Rocky Mountain country. Active min- 
ing operations began in what is now Montana, but then 
eastern Washington and western Dakota, in 1862. 
The earliest diggings were located west of the Rockies, 
but soon rich discoveries were made east of the moun- 
tains also. Packers from Walla Walla crossed over at 
once, carrying hundreds of tons of supplies at very 
great expense. A military road, from Fort Benton on 
the upper Missouri to Walla Walla, had been con- 
structed between the years 1859 and 1862, under the di- 
rection of Captain John Mullan. It was always pass- 
able for pack trains, but soon fell into such a state of 
disrepair that loaded wagons could not safely pass over 
it. Soon the demand became loud for the reopening of 
this highway. Work was done upon it at various times, 
with the result that many wagons, drawn by six or eight 
pairs of mules, carried flour and bacon, produced in 
the Willamette valley, from the head of navigation on 
the Columbia to Helena on the Missouri, a distance of 
only about six hundred miles. 

Competition between East and West; rapid 



226 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

growth of Portland. Pacific coast commodities now 
came into competition with those brought from St. 
Louis in many little steamboats; and thus the predic- 
tions of Mr. Floyd were in a way fulfilled : a commer- 
cial route had been opened across the continent by 
steamboat and wagon. The city of Portland, as the 
western emporium of this trade with the Inland Em- 
pire and Montana, entered upon a period of rapid 
and substantial growth, which has continued almost 
unbroken to the present time. 

Agriculture in the Walla Walla valley. From 
the beginning of this migration toward the interior, 
the most favourable portions of the country were 
eagerly sought after by those wishing to engage in 
agriculture or stock raising. The rapid progress of 
mining stimulated this movement, so that in spite of the 
long delay in beginning the settlement of the Inland 
Empire, a farming population finally spread over its 
fertile valleys and plains much more rapidly than would 
have been the case if no gold rush had occurred. The 
first district to be occupied was the Walla Walla valley, 
where the presence of the United States military post 
afforded a home market for products, and where the 
lands were not only fertile but easily tilled, compara- 
tively well watered, and conveniently near to the 
Columbia River and the lower settlements. It will be 
remembered that this valley was about to be occupied 
in 1847, when the Whitman massacre suddenly drove 
all whites west of the Cascades. A few pioneers held 
claims there at the outbreak of the later Indian war, 



The Inland Empire 227 

and these had to be abandoned also. When the treaties 
were completed in 1859, many persons were ready to 
take up lands in the country, while the emigration of 
that year furnished several hundred settlers. 1 In i860 
Walla Walla County had 1300 white people, and within 
the next six years the government surveyed about 750,- 
000 acres of land in the valley, most of which was im- 
mediately taken up for agricultural purposes. The 
chief crop was wheat, which yielded at the rate of forty 
to fifty bushels, and was turned into flour for export 
to the numerous mining camps supplied from this cen- 
tre. In 1865 the amount thus sent out was 7000 bar- 
rels. At the same time other products, like hay, onions, 
potatoes, and wool, were shipped down the river. In 
1870 Walla Walla County had 5174 inhabitants. By 
that time the valley was fairly well settled, containing 
many beautiful farms, with comfortable and even hand- 
some dwellings, surrounded by gardens, fruit orchards, 
and ornamental trees. 

Settlement of the Grand Ronde valley. For 
many years the emigrants to Oregon had passed with 
regret the beautiful valley of the Grand Ronde, nestled 
so peacefully among the Blue Mountains. After all 
danger from the natives had been removed, and the 
Walla Walla country partly filled up, settlers began to 
take claims in this attractive region, notwithstanding 

1 The Olympia Pioneer and Democrat of September 30, 1859, 
says that eight hundred emigrants had settled in the Walla Walla 
valley, while twenty families had taken claims on the Yakima, and 
thirty on the Klickitat and through the country from the Dalles 
to Fort Simcoe (on the Yakima). 



228 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

its distance from the sea. A few were left there by the 
emigration of 1861, but it was the great company of 
1862 which finally occupied the country. About two 
thousand, so the newspapers of the time declare, re- 
mained in the valley, while the rest, some eight thou- 
sand, went down the Columbia. The first winter was 
one of great privations; but the next summer a crop 
was raised on the newly broken lands, which furnished 
an abundance of provisions. La Grande was the prin- 
cipal town, and soon became the county seat of Union 
County, which included the Grand Ronde within its 
boundaries. From the first it was a place of consider- 
able importance, being the supply centre for the valley 
until other towns, like Union, Summerville, and Oro 
Dell, divided the territory with her. A wagon road 
built in 1863 connected the Grand Ronde valley with 
Walla Walla for trading purposes, while other roads 
and trails made it possible for this upper settlement to 
send its products to the mines of Boise valley, Owyhee, 
and other places. The abundance of timber on the 
slopes of the Blue Mountains, and the fine water power 
of the mountain streams, promoted the building of saw- 
mills, of which there were four in 1864. A description 
of the valley, written in the spring of 1868, indicates 
that excellent progress had been made in the first five 
years after settlement began. " The waste prairie has 
changed to fenced and cultivated farms, and in all direc- 
tions the handiwork of intelligence and industry is 
visible. Comfortable houses and outhouses have been 
built, orchards planted; from the poor emigrant has 



The Inland Empire 229 

sprung the well-to-do farmer." County roads crossed 
the valley in all directions, while two good toll roads 
had been built through it. The population of Union 
County in 1870 was 2552. 

Other agricultural settlements. These two illus- 
trations of the Walla Walla and Grand Ronde valleys 
are sufficient to show how population spread over the 
fine farming districts of the Inland Empire during the 
years immediately following the gold rush to this 
region. Many other districts had a similar history. 
Boise valley, Powder River, the Clearwater and Spo- 
kane, the high valleys of western Montana, — all had 
their farming communities, producing such supplies as 
the mining districts could use. The Yakima valley 
east of the Columbia was situated much like the W 7 alla 
Walla, and was settled about the same time. By 1870 
the amount of produce seeking a market from the 
upper Columbia was already larger than the demand to 
be supplied in that country, although only a small frac- 
tion of the tillable lands had as yet been taken up. The 
people needed better means of transportation, in order 
that they might ship their wheat and flour down the 
river to a larger and more stable market. The entire 
inland country waited impatiently for railroads to con- 
nect its scattered communities, and to afford the much- 
desired outlet to the sea. 1 

1 A short line of railroad, from Walla Walla to Wallula, was 
first projected as early as 1862; but it was not until 1868 that 
active work was begun upon it. The road was completed in 1874, 
largely through the energy and financial enterprise of Dr. D. S. 
Baker. It was the first railroad in the territory of Washington. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 

The Inland Empire was not alone in demanding rail- 
road facilities at this time. As yet the entire Pacific 
Northwest was lacking in this essential means of de- 
velopment, and the people everywhere were insisting 
that railways be built. 

Pioneer projects for railroads to the Pacific. 
Shortly before the settlement of the Oregon country 
by the pioneers during the 'forties, railways had become 
an assured success in the eastern portions of the United 
States. Twenty years earlier, when Congress was en- 
gaged in discussing the prospect of planting a future 
American colony near the Pacific, Mr. Floyd conceived 
of a communication, by steamboat and wagon, between 
the mouth of the Missouri and the mouth of the Colum- 
bia. The transition was easy from such a conception 
to that of a steamboat and railway communication, and 
this was suggested as soon as railway building in the 
United States had made some progress. In 1836 Levi 
Beardsley, speaking in the New York State Senate on a 
bill for completing the New York and Erie Railroad, 
said : " Is it extravagant to believe that before an- 
other thirty-six years expire we shall not only have an 

230 



The Age of Railways 231 

organized state beyond the Rocky Mountains, but a 
steamboat and railroad communication from St. Louis 
to the mouth of the Columbia River? . . . With rail- 
road and steamboat communication from New York 
to St. Louis, and from thence to the Columbia River, 
the whole distance may be traversed in twenty days, 
and thus open a direct communication with China." 
In 1839 another New York man wrote: " Figure to 
yourself a large city near the mouth of the Columbia, 
with a railway across the mountains, and a canal 
around the falls and rapids." About the same time a 
plan for a railroad to Oregon was said to be under dis- 
cussion at Dubuque, Iowa. This plan the editor of the 
Oregonian, of Lynn, Mass., ridiculed as a visionary, 
impracticable scheme. He saw overwhelming diffi- 
culties in the way, and even if the construction were 
possible, the cost would be prohibitive — from thirty 
to fifty millions — and besides it would be dangerous to 
run cars through the Indian country! 

Asa Whitney's Plan. When, a few years later, 
the man appeared who had a definite practicable plan 
for getting a Pacific railway built, the driving motive 
was still the age-old idea of a trade with China. This 
man was Asa Whitney, who had travelled in the 
Orient and gained the idea that a transcontinental 
railway, which would control the Chinese trade, 
would give the United States a stupendous commercial 
advantage over European countries; and he naturally 
believed that those who would supply this railway link 
would themselves profit enormously from the new de- 



232 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

velopment of wealth which would follow as a conse- 
quence. 

Mr. Whitney had observed the liberality with which 
Congress granted lands to aid canal construction in 
some of the states and saw no reason why a policy even 
more liberal might not be pursued in the case of a rail- 
road extending through national territory which with- 
out transportation facilities would not be likely to set- 
tle up for many years. An adequate land grant being 
secured along the proposed railway line, he could 
finance the construction of the road by selling the lands 
nearest the line as the building proceeded. He ap- 
pears to have thought that settlers could be tolled along 
section after section of the road, as these sections were 
completed, and thus business for the road would be 
created as fast as the rails could be laid down. In this 
expectation Mr. Whitney was ignoring the lessons 
taught by the history of American expansion. This 
proves that tongues of settlement will never penetrate 
indefinitely into the wilderness, even along water 
courses affording free transportation facilities. Ex- 
pansion has been a mass movement as well as an indi- 
vidual movement. 

Whitney desired a land grant. Whitney asked 
the government to grant him a belt of land sixty 
miles wide, from Lake Michigan to the mouth 
of the Columbia River, or to Puget Sound, which- 
ever route for the railroad should be finally de- 
cided upon. He launched his scheme as early as 1843 
and made a very active campaign for his land grant. 



The Age of Railways 233 

He issued pamphlets, solicited favourable resolutions 
from commercial bodies, state legislatures, etc., and 
made a vigorous convass at Washington. " If I can 
get the grant of lands," said Whitney, " I can build the 
road. In a few months after the grant the work shall 
be commenced and far sooner than I had dared to hope 
it can be completed, when we shall have the whole world 
tributary to us — when the commerce of the whole 
would shall be tumbled into our lap." 

In the summer of 1845 Whitney visited the great 
plains country and was more than ever convinced of the 
feasibility of his plan. But it does not appear that he 
made even a casual survey of the proposed route from 
the Missouri westward. All this, as well as the con- 
struction of the road, was left to be done after Con- 
gress should pass the land grant bill. For this he 
pressed with redoubled energy in 1845, being especially 
anxious to secure it before Wisconsin and Iowa terri- 
tories should become states, which he foresaw would 
complicate his problem. 

Objections to the Plan; Stephen A. Douglas. 
Whitney's project encountered several obstacles. 
For one thing, Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, who 
was chairman of the Committee on Territories of the 
House of Representatives, had a railroad plan of his 
own which differed materially from that of Mr. Whit- 
ney. Douglas proposed to organize at once two new 
territories, Oregon and Nebraska, which, with Iowa 
territory, would contain the railway route from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific. He would then grant to 



234 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

each of the three territories alternate sections of land 
for a reasonable distance on each side of the proposed 
road on the distinct condition that the proceeds from 
the sale of these lands should be devoted to the con- 
struction of the road. The work might then be carried 
on either as a public venture, or let out to private par- 
ties as the states concerned should determine. 

George Wilkes and his proposed Government 
Railway. Second, when Whitney's scheme came be- 
fore Congress it was severely criticised by Mr. George 
Wilkes of New York, especially in a pamphlet issued 
early in 1845 under the title " A History of Oregon." 
Wilkes pronounced Whitney's plan a scheme to rob the 
government of its western lands for the benefit of the 
promoter and his associates. He pointed out that, 
since Whitney proposed to sell government lands to 
procure funds for building his road, to grant the lands 
to him would be equivalent to presenting him with the 
desired railroad — a gift of unexampled munificence. 
But that was not all. The money for building the road 
would be secured from the sale of only a portion of the 
lands demanded. The balance of the lands would re- 
main in the hands of Mr. Whitney's company to enrich 
them in a yet more fabulous manner. 

Wilkes presented to Congress the obvious alterna- 
tive in the suggestion that the government sell its own 
lands and build its own railroad out of the proceeds of 
such land sales. He believed it feasible by this means 
to construct the road within a reasonable time and 
without in any way burdening the government. He 



The Age of Railways 235 

proposed to carry the road across the Rocky Moun- 
tains by the route the emigrating parties were taking, 
through South Pass, to the Columbia. From the 
Columbia, near its junction with Snake River, the road 
was to cross the Cascades to Puget Sound. Whitney 
had proposed either the mouth of the Columbia or 
Puget Sound as the terminus of his road, though his 
views were sufficiently elastic to allow him to substi- 
tute San Francisco Bay should such a course prove 
more agreeable to Congress. 

The rival plans of Whitney and Wilkes were pressed 
with so much zeal, and divided support so evenly, that 
neither plan was able to command the approval of 
Congress. However, the contest provoked a vast 
amount of railway discussion, it called out resolutions 
of state and territorial legislatures, and it led directly 
to the holding of railway conventions which fed the ris- 
ing flame of public interest and served to focus atten- 
tion more and more upon the practical aspects of the 
problem. 

Connection with Fremont's third journey. 
In my opinion, this discussion probably constituted 
one reason for the government's action in sending Lieu- 
tenant John C. Fremont west on a new exploring expe- 
dition in the summer of 1845. He crossed from the 
upper Arkansas through the then Mexican territory 
lying south of the forty-second parallel, and emerged 
at Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento. In his further 
efforts to carry out his explorations he encountered the 
hostility of the Mexican officials in California and 



236 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

finally joined the party of revolution which overthrew 
the Mexican rule there. Fremont later testified that 
his mission was to survey for a railroad to San Fran- 
cisco Bay, and on that theory alone can his movements 
be fully explained. 

In any event, it was now seen that logically the first 
step in securing a Pacific railroad was not a land grant 
but a careful preliminary survey to determine the best 
line for such a work ; and the government's engineering 
service was amply equipped for making such a survey 
or surveys. Accordingly, Congress was appealed to in 
this matter, and on the 3rd of March, 1853, the law was 
passed which provided for the great Pacific Railroad 
Surveys. All promising routes were to be investigated 
— such as the route made familiar through the journey 
of Lewis and Clark, the routes of Pike, Long, and Fre- 
mont, and those reported on by officers connected with 
the military campaigns in New Mexico and California. 
The Secretary of War was to direct the surveys and a 
large measure of discretion was necessarily reserved to 
him. 

The Pacific railway surveys. Secretary Jefferson 
Davis caused to be examined four routes from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific. One was a northern route, 
two central and one southern. The northern route 
ran near the head of the Missouri, one of the two cen- 
tral routes ran near the forty-second parallel (the 
South Pass route), the other some three or four 
degrees further south. The southern route was near 
the thirty-second parallel. 



The Age of Railways 237 

The northern survey was placed in charge of Major 
(afterwards General) Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who about 
this time was appointed governor of the newly created 
Territory of Washington. Colonel J. C. Fremont, 
Captain Stansbury and Lieutenant Beckwith surveyed 
the South Pass route. Captain Gunnison was given 
the south central route, while Captain John Pope, 
Lieutenant Parke, Major Emory and Lieutenant Wil- 
liamson took the southern, which included surveys from 
the Colorado River to San Francisco Bay. 

Three practicable routes revealed. The great 
work, whose results are embodied in a magnificent 
series of volumes, was completed in about two 
years. It showed the practicability of three routes, 
the northern, the southern and the one by South Pass, 
which thereafter was usually called the Central route. 
It rested with the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, 
to determine which of the three feasible routes pos- 
sessed the most marked advantages as to length, econ- 
omy of construction, etc., and he very naturally decided 
in favour of the southern. " Not only," said Davis, 
" is this the shortest and least costly route to the Pacific, 
but it is the shortest and cheapest route to San Fran- 
cisco, the greatest commercial city on our western 
coast." 

The Union Pacific Company formed. A loca- 
tion contest now ensued in which Davis was 
charged by General Stevens with unfair discrimina- 
tion against the northern route. Stevens advocated 
the construction of three lines of road, the Northern, 



238 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Central, and Southern Pacific Railways. The Pacific 
railroad became a sectional issue between the North 
and the Cotton South so that at no time prior to the 
outbreak of the Civil War was it possible to obtain 
legislation establishing such a road. 

When the Lower South seceded and the Union was 
temporarily contracted, the time seemed ripe for Con- 
gressional action, especially since a railway was needed 
to bind the far western communities to the Union as 
well as for defence against the Indians. On July 1, 
1862, President Lincoln signed a bill " to aid in the 
construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the 
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to 
the Government the use of the same for postal, mili- 
tary, and other purposes." The Union Pacific Rail- 
way Company, with a capital stock of $100,000,000, 
was organized to build the road. The company was 
to receive five alternate sections of land on each side 
of its right of way, and an additional subsidy in the 
form of $16,000 of United States bonds, bearing six 
per cent interest, for every mile of road constructed. 
Later modifications of these terms made them still 
more advantageous to the company. 

The Central Pacific. A second company, called 
the Central Pacific Company, which ultimately con- 
structed a large proportion of the total mileage, had 
its origin in California. Railroad agitation there had 
been persistent and almost continuous since 1850. A 
number of projects were broached which proved un- 
successful, yet with characteristic optimism the peo- 



The Age of Railways 239 

pie continued to hope and to plan for a transcontinental 
line. The Panama Railway, completed in the early 
Fifties, although calculated to aid in the development 
of California, proved inadequate from many points of 
view, partly because of the length, tediousness and 
expensiveness of the route. For the improvement of 
the mail service the " Pony Express " had been or- 
ganized, which connected with the telegraph line of the 
Missouri frontier and made the cities of Denver, Salt 
Lake and San Francisco. This was followed by the 
Overland Stage Line, covering similar routes. The 
stage company built several excellent roads over the 
Sierras and these became serviceable for freighting 
goods into Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and other mining 
regions. 

But all of this development was merely prophetic of 
the railway, and in 1861 the Central Pacific Railroad 
Company was organized by Stanford, Huntington, 
Hopkins, and Judah. The company at the outset in- 
tended to build from Sacramento through the Sierras. 
Finally, through a successful appeal to Congress, they 
were granted terms similar to those of the Union 
Pacific Company, and were encouraged to build east- 
ward until they should meet the construction parties of 
the Union Pacific. 

A railroad building. Congress, in fact, by its 
overliberal subsidies in land and bonds, had provided 
the incentive for a construction contest such as the 
world had not yet seen. Each of the two roads, one 
starting from Sacramento, the other from Omaha, 



240 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

wished to cover as many miles as possible because 
each mile of rails laid down meant ten square miles 
of land and $16,000 of bonds. The western 
company started first, breaking ground February 22, 
1863, and before the close of the year 1867 its 
line projected east of the Sierras. The Union Pacific 
delayed until 1865, but the nature of the ground enabled 
it to build westward from Omaha at a high rate of 
speed which however could not be maintained on reach- 
ing the Rocky Mountains. Meantime the Central 
Pacific, having overcome its chief geographical ob- 
stacles early in the work, and being fortunate in its 
control of a steady and adequate supply of Chinese 
coolie labour, gained in speed from year to year so 
that, instead of meeting the Union Pacific in the foot- 
hills of the Sierras as the latter expected, the two com- 
panies actually met at Promontory Point, Utah, where 
the ceremony of " Driving the Golden Spike " oc- 
curred on May 10, 1869, in the presence of throngs of 
visitors from both coasts and from many interior 
points. From Sacramento the road was extended to 
San Francisco Bay, which was the real terminus in the 
west. 

A railroad for Oregon. To have an overland 
railway, like the Central Railway, meant much in 
every way to the Pacific Northwest, although its 
benefits to that region fell correspondingly far below 
those conferred upon the more fortunate south. 
The line only touched the Oregon country at the 
southeast corner and did not furnish direct service 



The Age of Railways 241 

to any portion of its people. There was need for 
other lines, some of which might perhaps connect 
with the Central, such as a line from the Sacra- 
mento north to the Willamette and one by the old emi- 
grant trail from Fort Hall to the Columbia. 

California parties had projected a railway north- 
ward from the Sacramento at an early day, but con- 
struction finally was begun at Portland, Oregon, in 
April, 1868, when ground was broken for two roads, 
one to run on the east side of the Willamette River, 
the other on the west side. The east side railway — 
The Oregon and California — was completed to Rose- 
burg in the Umpqua valley during the year 1873. 
From that point south to the upper Sacramento the 
Oregon and California stage covered the difficult sec- 
tion through the Siskiyous until 1887, when the rail- 
way was completed and the isolated valleys of South- 
ern Oregon were brought into close relations with the 
Willamette and the Columbia. 

Entrance of Henry Villard. It was the Oregon 
and California Railway whose financial problems 
brought to the North Pacific that great organizing 
genius, Henry Villard. Once interested in the rail- 
way development of the region, Mr. Villard un- 
dertook, as an initial project, the opening of a 
complete system of railways along the Columbia, on 
the south bank, to connect Portland with The Dalles 
and the Inland Empire. In the early days of the gold 
rush to the Inland Empire, as we have seen, Portland 
business men and financiers had organized the Oregon 



242 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Steam Navigation Company, to build and operate 
boats on the successive reaches of the Columbia River 
divided from one another by portages. Around the 
principal portages, like the Cascades and the Dalles to 
Celilo Falls, this company had built railways and these 
were the earliest railways in Oregon. Villard or- 
ganized, with these men, a new company called the 
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, which ab- 
sorbed the Portage railways and other properties of 
the Navigation Company, and constructed a continu- 
ous line from Portland eastward to Baker City in 
Powder River Valley. Afterwards this road was con- 
tinued, practically on the line of the old emigrant route, 
to Granger, Wyoming, where it connected with the 
Union Pacific. 

Villard saves the Northern Pacific Railroad. 
Villard, meantime, was called upon to save the 
Northern Pacific Railway which had encountered great 
financial difficulties and, after a period of intense build- 
ing activity, this line was completed in September, 
1883, giving the Northwest at last a direct line of rail 
communication with the Mississippi Valley and the 
East. The celebration of the event, September 8, 
1883*, when Mr. Villard drove the last spike at a place 
in Western Montana, was similar to the Driving of 
the Golden Spike on the Union Pacific at Promontory 
Point, Utah, fourteen years earlier. Throngs of vis- 
itors from both sides of the continent had been gath- 
ered there and were being cared for as guests of the 
company. A number of distinguished Europeans were 



The Age of Railways 243 

among the number. One of the speakers of the occa- 
sion was a man who had made the overland journey 
across the plains with ox teams in 1843 — Senator 
James W. Nesmith, of Oregon. 

The year 1883 is a turning point in the railroad his- 
tory of the Pacific Northwest. Within the next few 
years, as we have seen, the Oregon and California 
Railway surmounted the difficulties of the Siskiyou, 
connecting thus with California and by the Central 
Pacific with the East ; and the Columbia River line was 
extended eastward through Oregon, Idaho, and a por- 
tion of Wyoming (the old Oregon Trail) to connect 
with the Central Pacific directly. 

A new railway era opens in 1883. In 1893 
the Great Northern Railway was completed to Puget 
Sound, making the third transcontinental line to 
be built. It marks the entrance into the transporta- 
tion life of the Northwest of Mr. James J. Hill, as the 
California road and the Northern Pacific marked the 
entrance of Mr. Villard. Mr. Hill's work during the 
succeeding years produced many changes in the rail- 
road map of the region, particularly in the states of 
Montana, Idaho, and Washington. The most notable 
recent achievement, and that which marks his entrance 
into Oregon, was the completion in 1908 of a great 
water level railway on the north bank of the Columbia. 
This road connects at Pasco, Washington, with the 
main line of the Northern Pacific of which the Hill in- 
terests secured control, and from Vaucouver, Wash- 
ington, it is carried over the Columbia and the Willa- 



244 d History of the Pacific Northwest 

mette to Portland, Oregon. With its connections the 
line is known as the " S., P. & S.," or Spokane, Port- 
land and Seattle Railroad. Among the connections of 
this system in Oregon are the line to Astoria and Sea- 
side, the Oregon Electric extending now from Port- 
land south to Eugene, and the Oregon Trunk Railroad 
built along the Des Chutes river to Bend. In Wash- 
ington, Idaho and Montana the feeders of the Hill 
system are much more numerous. These states also 
enjoy the benefits of the Milwaukee system, which was 
built across the Rockies in 1908 and has its western 
terminus at Tacoma, Washington. 

On the whole, railway building, and in consequence 
almost every line of economic development, for some 
years was more rapid north of the Columbia than in 
Oregon, whose lines, gathered together under the con- 
trol of the late E. H. Harriman, were commonly spoken 
of as the Harriman, or the Southern Pacific, interests 
as opposed to the Northern Pacific or the Hill inter- 
ests. In recent years, however, the Southern Pacific 
has shown much activity in the transportation develop- 
ment of Oregon. It constructed the Des Chutes Rail- 
way in competition with the Hill interests, it completed 
the west side division in the Willamette Valley from 
Corvallis to Eugene, making thus far a second line 
from Portland south, took over the privately built Cor- 
vallis and Eastern, and built extensions south into the 
Eastern Oregon Plateau from Biggs, Arlington, and 
Willows to Shaniko, Condon and Heppner respectively. 
It has also built a short extension from Pendleton to 



The Age of Railways 245 

Pilot Rock, a longer feeder from Baker to Prairie 
City and a still longer one southwestward from On- 
tario into the vast undeveloped regions of Malheur and 
Harney Counties. But probably the Southern Pacific's 
most significant achievement is the recently (1916) 
completed line from Eugene to Coos Bay, which gives 
the interior access to a southern seaport and brings 
into relations with the rest of Oregon an isolated but 
exceedingly fruitful section of the state. Besides, it 
prophesies the ultimate completion of a coast line to 
California. 

The eastern portion of Oregon is not yet adequately 
supplied with railway lines for the primary purposes 
of agricultural development, though plans are on foot 
whereby the various existing partial systems may be 
connected together into a system capable of serving this 
vast area, so long given over to the grazing of cattle 
and sheep under open range conditions. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE 

The states of the Pacific Northwest are usually de- 
scribed as primarily agricultural. The first settle- 
ments were made by farmer folk from the Mississippi 
Valley states, and farming has always been a leading 
industry throughout the region. In 1910 the three 
states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho had a com- 
bined population of 2,140,349. Of this total, 1,157,- 
861 are classed in the census report as rural, which 
means that they lived either in the open country or in 
towns and villages having not to exceed 2,500 people. 
The number of farms in the three states was 132,501. 
If we allow five persons to the farm, which is probably 
a low minimum, the actual farm population would ag- 
gregate 662,505, or approximately thirty-one per cent 
of the whole. The total wealth of the three states 
was reckoned at $5,771,020,243, and the value of all 
farm property was $1,471,104,378, somewhat over 
twenty-five per cent. 

At the date of the first census which took account of 
Oregon, the census of 1850, the number of farms was 
given as 1,164, an d the average value of a farm with 
buildings and all personal property attached to the 

246 



The Progress of Agriculture 247 

farm was $4,217. The total value of all farm prop- 
erty was $4,908,588. 

The story of the expansion of agriculture in the 
Pacific Northwest during the sixty years from 1850 to 
1 910 is not a simple account of the way the original 
number of farms was multiplied again and again, until 
the present total was reached. On the contrary, it is a 
complex, a picturesque, and at certain points a dramatic 
story of the colonization and development of an im- 
perial area, diversified in its physical characteristics, 
in climate, and in natural productions. 

Beginning of agriculture. The earliest cultivators 
of the soil, after the Hudson's Bay Company, were 
the retired French Canadian servants of the company 
who squatted on the rich second bench land along the 
Willamette some fifty miles from the mouth of the 
river. A district centring upon St. Paul, the site of 
the old Catholic Mission, is still known as French 
Prairie from the early French settlers. 1 

The Methodist Mission, and the colony which grew 
up about it, occupied land further to the south, but con- 
tiguous to French Prairie. 

The companies of immigrants who came in annually, 
beginning in 1842, took up rapidly all the choicest lands 
to be found in the lower or northern parts of the Willa- 
mette Valley and pushed steadily southward until by 
the time of the California gold rush, 1848, their re- 
moter settlements were nearly one hundred fifty miles 

1 The earliest French farmer was Etienne Lucier, who is said 
to have begun raising wheat on French Prairie in 1829. 



248 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

from Vancouver, which still continued to be their mar- 
ket reached by boat on the Willamette. 

The California gold rush, as we have seen, lured 
some of the Oregon pioneers to the valleys of the 
Umpqua and Rogue rivers where they settled as farm- 
ers and cattle raisers, to supply the California trade, 
and soon the gold seekers crossed from the south the 
Siskiyou Mountains into Oregon, which resulted in 
uniting the two communities though at some points the 
connecting band of settlement was still extremely 
slight. 

The California market essential. The California 
gold rush seems the almost providential means of 
saving the Oregon colony (and the California colony, 
too) from stagnation and perhaps ultimate failure. 
In the entire history of the westward migration of the 
American people there is no example of an agricultural 
settlement which really flourished before adequate 
market facilities were created for it; and until Cali- 
fornia filled up, magically, with gold seekers the market 
of the Oregon farmers was entirely too limited and too 
uncertain. 

Even after the gold rush had set in the market for 
wheat, flour, meats, fruits and vegetables, all of which 
could be supplied by Oregon and Washington farmers, 
was far from being unlimited, especially since Califor- 
nia agriculture gradually supplied most of the local 
demand for food stuffs. The opening of the mines 
throughout the Inland Empire brought a new and 
much needed stimulus. But, once more, local agricul- 



The Progress of Agriculture 249 

ture in the vicinity of the various mining centres soon 
came to be the chief reliance for miners' supplies. 
Later the development of Alaska as a new El Dorado 
brought much benefit to Northwestern agriculture ; the 
Hawaiian Islands' trade increased, and a partial mar- 
ket for food stuff's was opened in the Asiatic countries. 

Yet, all in all, the Pacific Northwest has suffered in 
its agricultural development from the stupendous fact 
that nature had made the region tributary to the Pacific 
rather than to the Atlantic. The markets of the world 
for the products of our farms and ranches are in 
Europe, and access to the European markets was seri- 
ously hampered by transcontinental freight charges on 
the one hand and on the other by the length and diffi- 
culty of ocean trade routes. Not until the opening of 
the Panama Canal can this region be said to have en- 
tered fully into the common benefits of the world mar- 
ket for American farm products. Now the handicap 
is removed and the whole Pacific slope shares the 
European markets with the Mississippi Valley and the 
Atlantic sea-board. 

Economic reasons for slow growth. The ab- 
sence of adequate market facilities during the 
greater part of our history is one of the main reasons 
for the comparatively slow growth of population in 
these states. While the progress shown by the popu- 
lation totals, given above, is certainly considerable, 
still the growth in other groups of western states has 
been very much more rapid than in ours. For ex- 
ample, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, were settled up 



250 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

largely before the era of railways and in part before 
the steamboat came into use. Yet these three states 
multiplied their population in fifty-years (1790-1840) 
from 45,000 to 2,680,000. West of the Mississippi 
are the four neighbour states, Iowa, Minnesota, Ne- 
braska and Kansas. Their rich prairie lands were as 
yet almost unbroken when the wagon trains bound for 
Oregon began wearing deep trails westward across 
their surface. Yet, between the years 1840 and 1880 
these four states gained a combined population of 
3,793,000. 

To sum the matter up, population in the states north 
of the Ohio advanced during the first half century of 
settlement about three times as fast as in the Pacific 
Northwest, while in the states west of the Mississippi 
the rate was five times as rapid. 

Inadequate markets, however, were only one cause 
of the delay in peopling this favoured region. The 
other main cause was the existence of vast stretches of 
rich unappropriated land east of the Rockies, which 
would have to be taken up for the most part before a 
general movement of homeseeking farmers into the 
Northwest could be realized. For the " rush " of set- 
tlement is always into the next available contiguous 
area. Other conditions being equal, emigrants cling 
as closely to the old home as they can. This is a prin- 
ciple which western promoters who were ignorant of 
the history of settlement in the United States some- 
times forgot, to their sorrow. 

It would seem, therefore, that in recent years, with 



The Progress of Agriculture 251 

the Panama Canal inviting to the markets of the world, 
with improved and improving railway facilities, and 
with no further competition with free lands nearer the 
centre of population the chief handicaps to agricul- 
tural development have been removed and a period of 
extraordinary progress should be setting in. 

Recent progress more rapid. That this is true is 
apparently demonstrated by the census figures show- 
ing the increase in number of farms and in farm 
values between the years 1900 and 1901. 1 In 1900 
Oregon had 35,837 farms averaging 281 acres in 
extent. These farms, with the buildings, machinery 
and domestic animals pertaining to them, are assigned 
an average value of $4,821 or a total farm wealth for 
the state of $172,761,287. Ten years later there are 
45,502 farms, an increase of nearly 10,000; the aver- 
age acreage is 256.8, a reduction of 24.2 acres. But 
the value of the average farm, fully equipped as before, 
has risen from $4,821 to $11,600, and the value of all 
farm property in the state has grown to the remark- 
able total of $528,243,782. 

Even more striking is the case of Washington, 
where the number of farms increased from 33,202 in 
1900 to 56,192 in 1910, and their total value increased 
from $144,040,547 to $637,543,411. This represents 
an increase in the value of the average farm in Wash- 
ington from $4,338 to $11,346 in ten years. 

Idaho had 17,471 farms in 1900, and by the year 

1 An analysis of those figures, and of the apparent prosperity 
of Agriculture, will be given at a later point in this chapter. 



252 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

1910 she had 30,803. All farm property in 1900 was 
valued at $67,271,202 and in 1910 at $305,327,185. 
The average farm in that state was valued in 1900 at 
$3,850, in 1910 at $9,911. 

Here we have, therefore, for the whole region an 
increase in ten years of 46,187 farms, and an increase 
of $1,087,031,342 in agricultural wealth. The new 
farms created during the decade would represent an 
addition to the farm population, on the basis of five to 
the farm, of about 231,000. The total increase of 
population in the three states during the decade was 
1,046,938/ from which it appears that about twenty- 
two per cent of the new population have found homes 
on farms. 

Comparing the last census period with the decade 
1880 to 1890, the first great era of railway construc- 
tion during which population growth was exceptionally 
rapid, we obtain some interesting results. During that 
era the number of farms in Oregon increased from 
16,217 to 25,530, or a gain of 9,323; in Washington, 
from 6,529 to 18,056, or 11,527; and in Idaho, from 
1,885 to 6,603 or 4,718. This makes a combined gain 
of 25,568 farms, providing homes for 127,840 per- 
sons. Thus it appears that our growth during the last 
census period has exceeded that of 1880 to 1890 by ap- 
proximately 20,600 farms representing a population of 
103,000. When we consider that the Panama Canal 
was not opened to traffic until nearly five years after 
the decade closed and that its benefits were therefore 

1 Washington 623,887, Oregon 259,229, Idaho 163,822. 



The Progress of Agriculture 253 

prospective rather than actual, the impression deepens 
that the agricultural prosperity of the Northwest has 
only well begun and that the next fifteen or twenty 
years are almost sure to witness great if not revolu- 
tionary changes. 

The Willamette Valley first to develop. Prior 
to 1880, progress had been rapid nowhere except, 
for a few years, in the Willamette Valley. The 
chief stimuli there in the decade 1850 to i860 were the 
California market for farm produce, and the Donation 
Land Law. This law permitted settlers who were 
married to take up 640 acres of land, one-half of which 
was to belong to the husband, the other half to the wife. 
The law was passed by Congress in September, 1850, 
and it expired by limitation in 1855. Under its terms 
all of the most valuable farm lands in the Willamette 
Valley were taken up, and since the law applied equally 
to Washington Territory numerous claims were filed 
there, too. The result is seen, partly, in the fact that 
Oregon 1 farm holdings increased during the decade 
from 1,164 to 5,806, or 4,642 farms, while in the next 
decade the increase was less than 1800 farms. 2 

Between 1870 and 1880 the growth is more marked. 
This period was influenced by the gold rush to the In- 
land Empire which began in the 6o's and was signalized 
by the opening of new farming areas in Eastern Ore- 
gon. Mention has already been made of the Grande 

1 Including Washington. 

2 In Oregon alone. No data for Washington Territory until 
1870. 



254 ^ History of the Pacific Northwest 

Ronde Valley, partly settled between the years 1862 
and 1870, as was also the Powder River Valley and 
the Umatilla. All of these sections increased steadily 
in the next decade. 

The Inland Empire; ranching. Moreover, the 
charms and the profits of stock-ranching on a large 
scale were causing a considerable emigration from 
the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon, espe- 
cially Crook and Wasco Counties, while men from 
Southern Oregon crossed over to Klamath County, and 
to Harney County. In this vast plateau region, with 
limitless range all about, the stockman located his claim 
in some sheltered valley or cove, where the union of 
good soil and a supply of water made possible the 
growing of grain, hay and vegetables. He could thus 
support his home, while the herds or flocks multiplied 
until, in many cases, they numbered scores of thousands 
of animals and made their owners wealthy. 

Some notion of the extent of the range business can 
be gathered from the statistics of the increase in live 
stock values which represent the range interest to- 
gether with the ordinary farm interest. In Oregon 
the number of farms increased between 1870 and 1880 
from 7,587 to 16,217 or 8,630, a gain of 113.7 per 
cent. But the value of livestock on farms and ranges 
increased in the same period from $6,828,675 to $17,- 
1 10,392 or 150.6 per cent. In Washington the number 
of farms gained 108.8 per cent, while the value of live- 
stock increased by 184 per cent. In Idaho the number 



The Progress of Agriculture 255 

of farms shows an increase of 355.3 per cent and the 
value of livestock 866.2 per cent. 

The twenty years from 1870 to 1890, or thereabouts, 
was the heyday of open range stock-raising in the 
Pacific Northwest. During that time the stockman 
was free to increase his herds to any practicable ex- 
tent, secure in the knowledge that his pasturage was 
unstinted and that few would interfere with his use of 
the public lands surrounding his homestead. After- 
wards restrictions began to be felt, until by gradual 
stages the old type of ranching was forced to give 
place to the system of enclosed ranges. 1 

Changes in the ranching business; the great 
cattle companies. While the advance in live-stock 
wealth has continued down to 19 10 and a large pro- 
portion of the increase is still due to the ranges of the 
Inland Empire, the conditions of stockraising have 
changed enormously. The picturesque " cowboy " of 
a quarter century ago is rarely met with today on the 
sage plains, and the historic " round-up " is now en- 
acted as a pageant before throngs of hilarious spec- 
tators. 

When the stockman became convinced of the neces- 
sity of retiring to his own enclosed pasture, he usually 
tried to provide himself amply with lands for his future 
operations. Many failed in the endeavour and went 
out of the stock business. A few, by means not al- 

1 Except in certain districts, and in connection with the grazing 
of the forest reserves. 



256 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ways honourable, secured titles to enormous tracts 
which are now generally in the hands of corporations. 
In one Oregon county which contains patented lands 
amounting to 1,127,180 acres, seven cattle companies 
hold a combined acreage of 512,955 or almost one-half 
of the whole. One of these companies is believed to 
own 229,000 acres in that county, and nearly as much 
more in each of two other Oregon counties. In vari- 
ous Pacific and Rocky Mountain states the company 
owns an empire aggregating 22,000 sections or 1,408,- 
000 acres. 

Much of the territory now held by the cattle com- 
panies was originally filched from the National Gov- 
ernment by the well-known device of the " dummy " 
entryman; some of it was once embraced in a wagon 
road grant unwisely made by Congress, which was pur- 
chased from the grantees ; some of it was land falsely, 
or at least doubtfully, described as swamp land and as 
such sold at the rate of one dollar per acre; and some 
was state school land the engrossing of which was per- 
mitted by the laxness of the state in enforcing the laws 
intended to restrict the sale to actual settlers. 1 Some 
of it, probably, was secured by the use of land scrip. 
And there are many cases, it is charged, in which home- 
steaders were terrorised by hired thugs into selling 
their rights to others, for the benefit of the cattle com- 
panies. 

The companies an obstacle to progress in grain- 

1 For the facts concerning the titles to the big ranches in Har- 
ney County, Oregon, the writer is indebted to Mr. H. K. Shirk, 



The Progress of Agriculture 257 

growing. In whatever manner the lands may have 
been secured, the existence of these big ranches is one 
of the present day obstacles to the progress of grain 
farming, the advance of which was the chief cause of 
the change from open ranging to the new method of 
stock raising. 

The profits in wheat growing on the volcanic soils of 
Washington, Idaho and Oregon are so generous, under 
a regime of cheap lands, that every extension of rail- 
way facilities has promptly brought fresh areas under 
the plough. Lands which were once considered of no 
value except for their bunch grass pasturage are found 
to produce with proper " dry land " methods of cultiva- 
tion, bountiful crops of hard wheat. To be sure, a 
considerable area in Washington and a much larger 
area in Oregon lies at an elevation too great for ma- 
turing the common varieties of cereals. Yet, even 
these lands must not lightly be condemned to range 
uses forever. The agricultural colleges and stations 
are sedulously engaged in plant-breeding experiments 
which are likely to solve what is now a very real prob- 
lem. If they succeed, as in time they doubtless will, 
we may look for a vast increase in the cultivated area, 
east of the Cascades, within a reasonable term of years. 
For not only dry farming methods, but new irrigation 
projects, of which a number are already in operation, 
will steadily encroach upon the area of the stock 
ranges until through the rise of land values, or through 

of Burns, Oregon, who personally examined land office and court 
records bearing upon the subject. 



258 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

the adoption by the states of a forward-looking policy 
of getting all tillable lands into the hands of home-mak- 
ing cultivators, the grazing industry will finally be com- 
pletely subordinated to farming proper. Practically, 
it will be confined to the very rough or very stony 
ground, and to the forest reserves. 

In the year 19 10 the state of Washington reported 
40,920,390 bushels of wheat grown on 13,865 farms. 
Oregon reported 12,456,751 bushels from 13,202 
farms; Idaho 10,237,609 bushels from 12,676 farms. 
The acreage of wheat in Washington had been multi- 
plied since 1879 by 26; in Oregon by less than 21 ; and 
in Idaho by 18. In 191 5 Oregon's estimated produc- 
tion was 20,025,000 bushels; Washington's 50,94,000 
bushels, and Idaho's 18,730,000 bushels. The wheat 
farms are growing larger every year. 

Wheat growing in the Willamette Valley. In 
Oregon the expansion of the wheat area east of 
the Cascades was offset in part by a gradual decrease in 
the acreage and the yield of wheat grown in the Willa- 
mette Valley. The early settlers raised wheat with 
extraordinary success. For many years the valley had 
a national repute as a wheat growing region. But bad 
methods of cultivation, an almost total failure to sup- 
ply elements of fertility removed from the soil by suc- 
cessive crops and the destructive custom of permitting 
the water soaked ground to be trampled by livestock 
in the winter finally rendered a naturally rich soil un- 
responsive. The wheat yield dwindled steadily until 
the margin of profit on its cultivation disappeared. 



The Progress of Agriculture 259 

Agricultural readjustment; striving for a 
permanent agriculture. For a number of years, the 
agriculture of the Willamette Valley, and other sec- 
tions of western Oregon and western Washington, has 
been striving to readjust itself. The quest has been 
for something which should prove a satisfactory 
substitute for the old staple, wheat. But no other 
cereal could be grown successfully where wheat had 
failed. Besides, the soil required rejuvenation and for 
this fertilization and improved methods of culture 
were imperatively demanded. The remedy, there- 
fore, was not a new crop, but a new agriculture. 

It cannot be said that the problem has been finally 
solved, but it has come to be generally recognized, 
which is the condition of its solution. Year by year 
the nation-wide movement for a permanent agriculture 
wins new adherents and new missionaries in this sec- 
tion. 

Dairying. Perhaps the conditions of a permanent 
agriculture are as well fulfilled in dairying as in any 
other system of farming. Experience has shown that 
under such a system, if well conducted, the fertility of 
the soil is built up year by year, while the sure if 
modest profits of the business render the farmer and 
his family independent. The climate, soil and produc- 
tions of western Oregon and Washington are espe- 
cially favourable to the success of the industry. 
Dairying therefore is being promoted with a vigour 
born of confidence. 

One of its best features, our farmers are told, is the 



260 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

way it improves the farmer himself. Since profits are 
small or non-existent to the shiftless or untaught and 
relatively large for the careful, scientific dairyman, the 
business serves as a school of agricultural efficiency. 

The benefits of dairying appeal also to the cultivator 
of irrigated acres in all parts of the Inland Empire. 
The success with which alfalfa hay, oats, and corn can 
be produced for stock feed, and the increased value of 
these productions when turned into butter, cheese or 
milk is there the great incentive. 

Census figures of six or seven years ago are not il- 
lustrative of the dairy industry as it is in the Northwest 
today, progress since 19 10 having been especially rapid. 
Perhaps a better indication of growth in the entire re- 
gion, would be the statistics of the Dairy and Food 
Commissioner of Oregon, for that state, covering ap- 
proximately the period 1900 to 19 16. He finds that 
in Oregon the number of creameries has increased from 
50 to 105, and their butter product from 1,680,000 
pounds to 16,288,000 pounds. Oregon had 20 cheese 
factories in 1901, producing 119,500 pounds of cheese, 
and 74 in 1916, producing 8,952,000 pounds. In 1905 
there were three condensaries, manufacturing con- 
densed milk, but there is no record of the product until 
19 14, when there were seven factories producing 19,- 
580,000 pounds. In 1916 they were producing 27,- 
116,000 pounds. The entire dairy output of Oregon 
for the year 19 16 is estimated at $20,000,000. The 
figure for Washington would be considerably higher. 

General farming. General farming, which com- 



The Progress of Agriculture 261 

bines the dairy with pigs, sheep, poultry, fruit, and 
market crop production is probably the most com- 
mon form of the reconstructive agriculture in the old 
sections of the Northwest. The use of legumes, — 
vetch, the clovers, peas, beans and alfalfa, — is aiding 
materially toward restoring the productive powers of 
the cropped-out soils. Corn, once considered out of 
the question because of the cool summers, is being 
raised successfully, benefitting the soil by the more 
adequate culture it receives and contributing notably 
to the success of dairying and pig-feeding. Silos are 
already dotting the landscape in many sections, and al- 
most invariably they are being filled with corn. 

A substantial gain has been made in Northwestern 
agriculture since the opening of the era of general 
farming as opposed to grain farming. Two main 
obstacles, however, have impeded the progress of re- 
form. These are, first, that the relatively high price 
of farm lands delays the process of subdividing the 
large farms of pioneer times into holdings suited to a 
more intensive system of farming; second, that the 
extraordinary variety of soils and situations makes the 
cultivation of every quarter section of land in Western 
Oregon or Washington in some sort a distinctive prob- 
lem to be solved only through special study and experi- 
mentation. 

Tradition and custom are here less safe as guides to 
the farmer than they are in the Middle Western states. 
And since most men rely on tradition and custom to a 
large extent, the percentage of failures is relatively 



262 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

high. On the other hand, while they make progress 
slower, it is probable that in the end the conditions 
mentioned will develop here a race of trained, thought- 
ful, independent men comparable to the old farming 
class of the New England states. 

Farm land values; the census figures. The 
question of farm land values cannot be disposed 
of in so optimistic a manner. It constitutes a very 
serious problem affecting the entire social structure in 
these states, as well as the progress of agriculture. It 
was pointed out above that the total combined value of 
all farm property in Oregon, Washington and Idaho in 
1910 was $1,471,104,378, or about 25 per cent of the 
total of all forms of wealth. In 1900 the value of all 
farm property stood, for the three states, at $384,- 
083,036. The advance, accordingly, amounted to 
$1,087,031,342, or about 300 per cent. But of this 
gain, $982,345,184 is assigned to land and buildings, 
or farm real estate property. According to the census 
report, farm lands alone, as distinct from buildings, in- 
creased in value during the decade 217.7 P er cent m 
Oregon, 278.3 in Washington, and 276.1 in Idaho. 
This rise occurred in face of the fact that the percent- 
age of farm land which was improved actually de- 
creased in both Oregon and Washington, owing to the 
vastness of the new tracts taken up. Thus it becomes 
clear that the noteworthy advance in farm land values, 
during the last census period, represents a gain prin- 
cipally in the social value of land — the unearned in- 
crement — which, properly speaking is not an economic 



The Progress of Agriculture 263 

gain, so far as the farmer is concerned. Of course it 
is a fruitful source of gain to the speculative land 
buyer and especially to the dealer in farm lands. 

Causes of social value. The primary cause of the 
rise in the social value of lands here, as elsewhere in 
the United States, is the disappearance of the free 
lands. Hitherto these regulated the value of the farm 
lands, permitting only such advance as was justified 
usually by the cost of improvements plus the original 
expense of securing title. Thus, in the case of Ore- 
gon, the value of farm lands and buildings averaged 
$6.58 per acre in 1850, when 30.7 per cent of farm 
land was improved; $13.50 in 1880 with 52.2 per 
cent improved; $16.75 m I ^9° w ^h 5°-9 P er cent im ~ 
proved ; and $13.14 in 900 with 3.3 per cent improved. 
But, in 1910, with only 36.6 per cent of the lands im- 
proved, the value per acre had gone up to $38.98. 1 

This movement of values, since 1850, corresponds 
closely to the movement of farm values in the United 
States as a whole. Until 1900 the influence of free 
lands effectually prevented the general rise in farm 
land values. The disappearance of free lands during 
the two decades 1890 to 1910 removed the natural reg- 
ulator of values with the result that in ten years time 
they were more than doubled. In 1900 the average for 
land and buildings was $19.3 per acre, while in 1910 

it was $39-5- 

Speculation in farm lands. A secondary cause 
of social values in the Northwest has been an 
1 In Washington it was $48.84, and Idaho $46.38. 



264 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

excess of speculation in farm lands. Two closely re- 
lated facts, orcharding and irrigation, have served 
as the dynamite for breaking up all the old con- 
ceptions of farm land values. Several favoured locali- 
ties, like Hood River Valley, Yakima Valley, the 
Payette region and Rogue River, demonstrated the pos- 
sibility of turning ordinary farm lands, worth from 
$10 to $25 per acre, into fruit orchards worth from 
$250 to $1,500 per acre. Since there seemed no con- 
vincing reason why other areas should be deemed in- 
capable of growing fruit " just as good " as that of the 
places named (and others equally successful), and since 
the market for certain kinds of fruit appeared to be 
almost unlimited, men strove madly to multiply orchard 
areas. 

There was a rage for planting and especially for 
planning new orchards in all sorts of soils and every 
conceivable situation. It became a common practice 
for realty companies to buy up a few cheap farms, 
located as chance might dictate, and to throw them into 
a single tract. To this they would then apply some 
poetic or at least promising name and begin to sell it off 
in tracts of from five to forty acres. By means of 
lavish expenditure for advertising, all of which would 
be repaid with usury by the unwary purchasers, con- 
scienceless promoters often leaped a rich harvest. 
Their victims in too many instances have reaped sor- 
row only. 

Cases of this kind poisoned the minds of the farm- 
ers, who readily seized the chance of selling their farms 




One of the fruit-growing regions of the Northwest. 
River Valley 



The Hood 



The Progress of Agriculture 265 

for orchard purposes at high values, and when one farm 
was thus sold all others in the neighbourhood instantly 
came into the market, always at fictitious values. 
Legitimate farming suffered as district after district, 
county after county, engaged in the race for wealth 
easily gotten through the speculative disposal of farm 
lands, to easterners or others in the grip of the fruit- 
growing mania. 

Irrigation, wherever it came, worked even a greater 
revolution in the value of lands affected, than did 
fruit growing. Desert lands are low-priced. Irri- 
gated lands are high-priced. Schemes of irrigation by 
private companies, under state auspices, and under na- 
tional auspices were actively promoted in some areas, 
anticipated in others, and hoped for wherever water 
and sage plain were found in relations which might 
render irrigation possible. The result has been specu- 
lation in so-called " irrigable " lands tending to inflate 
values unduly. 

Increase in number of small farms. From all 
causes, some legitimate and some otherwise, the num- 
ber of small farms, ranging from less than twenty 
acres to one hundred acres, was increased in these 
three states during the last census period from about 
28,000 to 59,000; and it is significant that the largest 
relative increase was in the number of very small 
farms, — those under twenty acres. In farms of mod- 
erate size, from one hundred to one hundred seventy- 
five acres, and over one hundred seventy-five but under 
five hundred, the increase was slight. 



266 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Also of very large farms. The very large farms, 
especially those averaging more than 1,000 acres, were 
growing more numerous, both actually and relatively 
to the whole number of farms. This process, which 
apparently still continues, is due to the fact that wheat 
raising by capitalistic methods is extremely profitable, 
and the larger the area cultivated, under a single man- 
agement the larger the profits. 

Effect of land prices on immigration. A general 
inflation of land values influences the rate of immi- 
gration of desirable citizens from other states into 
this region and defers still further the full devel- 
opment of Northwestern resources. This fact is com- 
ing to be recognized as well as the other fundamental 
facts (a) that the high price of farm lands is respon- 
sible in large measure for the drift to the towns which, 
considering the comparative newness of the region, is 
seriously disquieting to all thoughtful men, and (b) 
that it contributes to the anxieties and the unrest of 
the industrial classes who see in it the prospect of their 
permanent exclusion from the ranks of landowners. 
Hence, it is not strange that remedies should be sought 
through extreme socialistic measures for land holding 
reform like the Single Tax. Such a measure was de- 
feated by the Oregon electorate at the general election 
in November, 1916, the vote standing 43,390 " Yes " 
and 154,908 " No." 

Suggested remedies. Probably no similar meas- 
ure can pass in any of these states until the landless 
industrial class shall be distinctly in the majority. 



The Progress of Agriculture 267 

Meanwhile, earnest men are seeking remedies which 
may, if possible, conserve the lands for the use of 
actual homemakers, in unit areas suited to the needs 
of a family under the varying economies of grazing, 
wheat growing, general farming, irrigation farming, 
orcharding, etc. It should be possible, in view of the 
experience of other countries, to induce monopolistic 
concerns to sell their surplus land, at reasonable and 
yet profitable rates, to those who actually need them 
for the support of homes. If a plan of procedure could 
be found which would release for agricultural purposes 
such parts of the great cattle ranches as could be 
profitably cultivated either with irrigation or by dry 
farming methods, and which would at least prevent the 
bonanza wheat farms from growing bigger than a given 
maximum acreage, a beginning toward reform would 
be made. In order to be thoroughgoing it must fix the 
acreage of the normal holding for each type of farm. 
The normal holding would have to be made general 
by the exercise of the law making and taxing powers 
of the state and in extreme cases through the use of 
the state's reserved power of eminent domain. Of 
course, the " normal farm " would require to be re- 
established from time to time as population became 
denser and cultivation more intensive. 

In order to limit speculation in farm lands, it has 
been suggested that a state land " exchange " be 
created for the purpose of listing, at a central office, 
all farm lands which are for sale or exchange, and for 
classifying such lands according to definite and logical 



268 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

principles, with reference to their real character. By 
this means it is believed the inflation due to specula- 
tion, to over-wrought description, and to false or mis- 
leading classification, would be eliminated. The state 
office could exert a wholesome restraint in the interest 
of fairness to both buyer and seller. 

Agricultural education. As respects the problem 
of agriculture, education is performing two main func- 
tions. On the one hand it aims to assist the adult 
generation of farmers to adapt themselves to the new 
conditions imposed by the new agriculture. On the 
other, it strives to train the next generation in such 
a manner that they may be able to meet similar prob- 
lems even if these should appear in much more acute 
forms. The agricultural colleges of the Northwest 
are keenly alive to their responsibilities, and they em- 
ploy a vast system of extension services in the hope 
of aiding the practising farmer. They are likewise 
co-operating with the public school systems in develop- 
ing the means of training the children. 

A hopeful sign is the fact that not only all educators, 
from state superintendents of instruction to district 
school teachers, but all classes of men in these commu- 
nities and all types of organizations, are interested in 
promoting agricultural education. 



CHAPTER XIX 

INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 

Aside from agriculture, which employs more of the 
labour of the Northwest than any other single interest, 
the people are engaged in a considerable variety of 
diverse industries. At one time, as we have seen, min- 
ing was a prominent industry both in Southern Oregon 
and in many portions of the Inland Empire. The 
palmy days of the placer fields are over, at least for the 
present, and, relatively, activity in mining has greatly 
decreased. Yet there are a number of centres where 
quartz mining is carried on to a considerable extent 
while attempts to earn " good wages " by " panning " 
gold bearing dirt along the mountain streams are fairly 
numerous, though the business cannot be dignified as a 
regular or important industry. The metals produced 
are mainly gold and silver, copper, zinc and lead. But 
the value of the gold produced in the entire Northwest 
is a mere pittance as compared with Alaska, or with 
the three great gold producing states, California, Colo- 
rado and Nevada. 

The coal supply. The three Northwestern states 
have an original coal supply estimated at 65,573,100,- 
000 tons. Of this, 64,917,100,000 is assigned to Wash- 

269 



270 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ington, 1,000,000,000 to Oregon, and only 700,000,- 
000 to Idaho. Only about 100,000,000 of this supply 
had been exhausted in 191 5. Coal mining, however, is 
engaging more attention year by year. The require- 
ments of transportation, manufacturing, and other 
more general fuel demands have created a strong in- 
terest in the development of the older known coal fields 
like those in the Coos Bay region and on Puget Sound, 
while the testing out of new prospects goes on with 
promptness and enthusiasm. Considerable deposits of 
valuable coal have been opened in the Cascade region 
of Eastern Washington and this coal field is rendered 
accessible by the Northern Pacific Railway which tra- 
verses the area. The Puget Sound coal is in part 
easily accessible to ocean going vessels. The coal of 
Coos Bay, since the completion last year of the Coos 
Bay division of the Southern Pacific Railway, finds a 
way out both by rail and by water. 

The coal fields of Alaska are prospectively a resource 
to the entire Northwest as furnishing an abundant 
supply for the developing manufactures as well as for 
the transportation agencies of this country. Their ex- 
tent, while known to be considerable, is not yet accur- 
ately determined. 

Manufacturing; lumber. From a manufacturing 
point of view the Pacific Northwest is still in the in- 
fancy of its development. Such activity as there has 
been, which in the total is large, is represented mainly 
by the extractive industries — making a primary use 
of the vast natural resources of the country. In this 



Industry and Commerce 271 

respect the extraction of values from the native forests 
holds the first place in importance. These states pos- 
sess extraordinary opportunities for the manufactur- 
ing of lumber, on account of the vast areas of superb 
primeval forest growth included within their bound- 
aries. And lumbering has become an industry of 
large proportions. Probably the most complete lum- 
ber manufacturing plants to be found in the world are 
located in Washington and in Oregon, some of them 
having been substituted, by a kind of evolution, for 
small, crude mills of the pioneer days of the industry, 
others being erected as new ventures at suitable points 
in proximity to timber supplies large enough to justify 
an expectation of reasonable permanency. The most 
abundant timber is the Douglas fir, sometimes known 
in the eastern markets as Oregon pine; but there are 
also forests of spruce, of yellow pine, and a much 
smaller supply of the valuable sugar pine; cedar, and 
other varieties are found scattered somewhat widely 
among the more common growths. For some pur- 
poses, as for furniture making, other growths, includ- 
ing the maple and even the alder, are beginning to as- 
sume importance. 

The rapid development of the lumbering industry of 
the Northwest has come since 1880, when it began to 
appear that the bountiful forests of Michigan, Wiscon- 
sin, and Minnesota were after all not inexhaustible. 
Since 1900 the production of the Lake states has de- 
clined sharply, while in Oregon and Washington the 
increase has been enormous, amounting by 191 3 to 



272 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

about 6,700,000 M, of which Washington was produc- 
ing 4,592,oooM, and Oregon 2,oq8,oooM. 

It was about 1900 that the larger lumber manufac- 
turers and capitalists of the Middle West began spying 
out new forest land in which to operate when supplies 
of timber on hand should fail. Some were attracted 
to the Southern States, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missis- 
sippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, also North Caro- 
lina and Texas. All of those states in consequence 
show stupendous increases in their lumber outputs, 
which totalled in 1913 i5,30o,oooM, as against less 
than 4,ooo,oooM, for the Lake group. Others began 
to acquire holdings in the Pacific states, notably Oregon 
and Washington, where vast tracts were brought under 
the control of a few wealthy operators. 

Timber land; how secured. The land laws of 
the United States were drawn with reference to 
the individual cultivator or homesteader, and were 
ill adapted to the requirements of lumbering, which 
calls for such large investments in machinery as 
are justified only on the assurance that raw materials 
of manufacture — in this case timber — will be avail- 
able for a reasonable number of years. Being unable 
to purchase such supplies of timber from the govern- 
ment, which sold only to individuals and in lots not to 
exceed 160 acres, operators felt themselves under the 
necessity of buying the lands entered by private holders. 
Since, moreover, every operator, on contemplating a 
new business, based his calculations upon the exploita- 
tion of a given body of timber which must be secured 



Industry and Commerce 273 

cheaply in order to insure profits and minimize risks, 
the temptation was sometimes overpowering to hire 
" dummy " entrymen to take up the lands from the 
government and turn them over to the operator on re- 
ceiving the government's patent therefor. There was 
a time when the contracting of one's " timber right " 
was considered a perfectly legitimate process of " bar- 
gaining and selling." It involved no disgrace to either 
party. But during the Roosevelt administration a 
number of timber land frauds were prosecuted to con- 
viction and the public finally awoke to the immorality 
of such proceedings, which involved on the one hand 
perjury and on the other subornation of perjury, with 
purpose to defraud the government of its lands. 
Operators are now content to buy such tracts as they 
want from legitimate owners, paying on the basis of 
stumpage. They are sometimes able to secure abun- 
dant supplies of timber by contracting for stumpage 
growing in the Forest Reserves. In such cases they 
buy no land, of course, and they harvest the timber 
when ripe, under the direction of government for- 
esters. 

Competition with the South. The land fraud 
prosecutions may have had some effect in delaying 
the progress of the lumber business in the Northwest, 
by tending to impede the usual process of acquiring 
timber supplies to feed the proposed manufactur- 
ing plants. Yet, doubtless, the main reasons why 
manufacturing proceeded more slowly here than in 
the South were that timber was not readily accessible 



274 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

and markets for the lumber still less so. A long rail 
haul would be required to place the product in reach of 
the users of lumber east of the Rocky Mountains, and a 
very long water haul would be required to lay it down 
in Europe or on the Atlantic seaboard. In comparison, 
the Southern forests were near the great markets both 
of America and of Europe. This explains why Ore- 
gon and Washington in 1913 produced 6,6o,o,oooM, 
as against the i5,30o,oooM, produced in the eight 
southern states named. 

Nevertheless, lumbering had definitely taken its place 
as the leading manufacturing industry in these states. 
Already, there are centres where the manufacture of 
lumber is producing important towns and cities, as it 
did in Michigan, as witness Saginaw and Grand 
Rapids, or in Wisconsin where Oshkosh and Lacrosse 
illustrate the same tendency. And, moreover, so large 
is the lumber industry that when its prosperity wanes 
the entire industrial and commercial life of these states 
is seriously affected. When lumber prospers the case 
is reversed. 

The market for lumber. The prosperity of the 
lumber business depends on an unfailing market, on 
low freight rates on the overland railway lines, and 
on the excellence and cheapness of water transporta- 
tion. This explains the eager, determined interest 
which Northwestern people have taken in the tariff 
on lumber, in the decisions of the interstate com- 
merce commission respecting freight rates, and in 



Industry and Commerce 275 

the question of free tolls for vessels passing through 
the Isthmian Canal. 

Similarly, these states have a direct interest in the 
termination of the European war, for it seems certain 
that when peace comes the demand for lumber to re- 
build portions of devastated Europe will tax the pro- 
duction capacity of the Northwest for a number of 
years. Arrangements are now being made, in antici- 
pation of the new demand, for increasing the producing 
capacity of existing plants, while many new ones are 
being erected and still others planned. 

From what has already been achieved and from the 
reasonable expectation of the future, it may be assumed 
that lumbering in this section will pioneer the way for 
a general manufacturing development, as it has done in 
other sections of the United States. It is giving rise, 
gradually, to the manufacture of furniture and other 
finished products into which lumber enters, and it will 
probably result in building up a considerable group of 
inland cities having a permanent economic support in 
such manufacturing industries. At the sea-ports an 
extraordinary interest in the building of wooden ships, 
stimulated by the war, promises to reproduce on this 
coast some of the features of the noted centres of that 
industry on the north Atlantic coast. 

Manufacture of paper. One of the significant 
secondary products derived from the forests is paper, 
which at some points, notably at the falls of the Wil- 
lamette (Oregon City), is manufactured in large 



276 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

quantities in plants representing heavy investments, 
employing a considerable number of mechanics and 
other labourers, and using the most modern equip- 
ment. The material used is certain varieties of soft 
woods, especially the so-called " balm-of-Gilead " 
which grows along the water courses and in some 
cases can be floated to the mills at a slight cost 
for transportation. The same material is used also in 
the manufacture of " excelsior " used in packing, for 
making cheap mattresses, etc. Excelsior mills, being 
cheap and simple in their construction and equipment, 
are distributed rather widely, as are also shingle mills 
for similar reasons. 

Packing fish, especially salmon. The preparation 
and packing of fish, especially salmon, constitutes in 
Washington and Oregon a large and important though 
not a progressively expanding industry. The busi- 
ness began on the lower Columbia about the year 1866, 
prior to which time much salmon was taken and 
salted but not canned. There was a rapid increase 
during the first ten years. In 1866, the first year for 
which we have statistics, the pack amounted to only 
4,000 cases. 1 In 1876, it was 450,000 cases. By 
that time the interest in salmon packing had extended 
to Puget Sound, to Gray's Harbour in Washington, 
and to the coastal streams in Oregon, but the 

1 All figures are reduced to a common basis of 48 one-pound 
cans to the case. The information relating to the salmon pack 
from 1866 to 1916 was furnished by the School of Commerce, 
University of Oregon. 



Industry and Commerce 277 

quantities produced elsewhere than on the Columbia 
were light. Puget Sound, however, passed the 100,- 
000 mark in 1895 and six years later passed the one 
million mark, the pack of that region in 1901 being 
1,380,590 cases. This high record has been broken 
three times since 1901 : in 1909 with 1,632,949 cases, 
191 1 with 1,557,029 cases, and 1913 with the huge 
output of 2,583,463 cases. The pack of the Columbia 
has varied in extent from 629,400 cases in 1883 to 253,- 
334 cases in 1908. In forty-one seasons the Columbia 
pack has exceeded 400,000 cases twenty-one times, and 
it has never in that period dropped below 250,000 
cases. The coastal streams of Oregon show their 
highest production in 1907, with 197,332 cases. 
Gray's Harbour in Washington has produced as high 
as 72,727 cases and a later developed area in Wash- 
ington, Willapa Harbour, has produced 40,000 cases. 
The total pack of the Northwest in 1866, as stated, was 
4,000 cases, and in 1876, 450,000 cases. Ten years 
later it was 515,000, in 1896 it was 810,900, in 1906 
it was 1,057,230 cases, and in 1916 the total was 1,410,- 
126 cases. Thus it appears that the industry is some- 
what fluctuating, due to the seasonal variations in the 
salmon run. The packing factories (canneries) are 
located conveniently near the supplies of fish, on the 
rivers and inlets, which reduces the labour requirement 
to a low minimum in relation to the value of the prod- 
uct and the capital invested. Legislation looking to 
the conservation of the fisheries, which provides for 
the maintenance of hatcheries for restocking the 



278 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

streams, the regulation of the fishing seasons, modes of 
fishing, etc., may perhaps result in stabilizing the indus- 
try on approximately its present basis. 

Packing fruits and vegetables. The business of 
packing fruits and vegetables is steadily growing in 
importance throughout the Northwest, the region it- 
self gaining distinction for both the quality and the 
output in these lines. A portion of the fruit, espe- 
cially the prune crop and a portion of the peach 
crop, is dried or " evaporated " for marketing. But 
cherries, pears, small fruits, and a great variety 
of vegetables are mostly canned. The number of pack- 
ing plants, or canneries, is large and their distribution 
such as to serve appreciable areas of country. Some 
of the most successful of these are conducted on the co- 
operative plan, the growers themselves owning the 
stock and managing the business through the agency of 
boards of directors and superintendents. Since the 
fruit cannery exists for the purpose of saving such 
portions of the various crops as cannot be marketed 
in a fresh state, the association which owns the can- 
nery usually is primarily a fruit marketing organiza- 
tion. Nevertheless, the business necessarily increases 
relatively to the rapid increase which is taking place in 
the production of those kinds of fruit, like cherries 
and Loganberries, for which the demand in the 
fresh state bears only a small proportion to the total 
supply. 

Mention has already been made of the manufacture 
of milk products, butter, cheese, and condensed milk, 



Industry and Commerce 279 

in which an almost indefinite expansion can be expected 
in the future. 

Beet sugar manufactories. Several plants for the 
manufacture of beet sugar exist in this region and 
others are promised. If general conditions continue 
to favour the industry the beet sugar factory will un- 
doubtedly take its place as one of the resources of 
the Northwestern farmers generally for securing 
profits from the cultivation of the soil. The growing 
of beets for this purpose contributes to the building 
of a permanent agriculture since the beet tops can 
be used for silage and the pulp which is left after 
extracting the sugar is accounted a valuable food, 
both for dairy cows and other stock. Idaho, Eastern 
Washington, Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon 
appear to possess special advantages in beet sugar pro- 
duction because for reasons connected with soil and 
climate the sugar content of beets grown in those sec- 
tions is especially high. 

Manufacturing nitrogen from the air. One of 
the most interesting investigations into manufactur- 
ing possibilities has been with reference to plants for 
the extraction of nitrogen from the air by electrical 
processes. Owing to the unlimited water powers and 
the consequent cheapness with which electric energy 
can be produced, it is believed that the Northwest can 
enter upon that line of manufacture with reasonable 
hopes of success. The United States government, for 
reasons of military preparedness, appears to have some 
interest in such projects, but their permanent success 



280 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

would depend on the demand for artificial fertilizers 
occasioned by the change to a more intensive agricul- 
ture, and the very rapid development of horticulture 
and of truck farming in the region itself and in other 
accessible regions. 

The prospective general use of electric power in 
industry. The abundance of water powers in these 
states has also suggested a very general and widespread 
use of electric energy for the doing of all kinds of 
work like driving machinery in shops, and even in 
homes, as well as in factories. Being both cheap and 
easy to distribute and to apply under favourable condi- 
tions, the small business can employ it almost as eco- 
nomically as the large one. Some of the cities of the 
Northwest have municipally owned power plants, 
others privately owned. The economy involved in a 
large scale development of powers, instead of small 
ones, stimulates the quest for a market for electric 
energy beyond that implied in a demand for electric 
lighting. All are therefore trying to sell energy for 
every purpose in the towns served by power plants. 
Beginnings have already been made toward equipping 
homes with electric heating appliances, which can be 
done where power is cheap at rates which are eco- 
nomical as compared with heating by means of wood 
or coal. There are chimneyless farmhouses in certain 
sections, all cooking as well as heating being done with 
electricity. On some farms, too, electric power is em- 
ployed to drive household and barn machinery, to 
pump water, etc. If those thinkers are right who ad- 



Industry and Commerce 281 

vocate a revival of individual and family, or small 
group, industrial production as a cure for some of the 
evils of factory production, then the Pacific North- 
west should be among the first regions of the United 
States to make the experiment. 

Northwestern water powers. The actually exist- 
ing water powers of the Northwest have only begun 
to be used. These three states with northern Cali- 
fornia contain, it is estimated, at a minimum 12,- 
979,700, at a maximum 24,701,000 horse power, or 
nearly one-third of the entire water power of the 
United States. The Des Chutes of Oregon alone 
has a capacity of 1,920,000 horse power, and numbers 
of streams in nearly all portions of the area are sus- 
ceptible of large development. Up to the present time 
the sparseness of the population in most sections mili- 
tates against power development, since the cost of dis- 
tributing systems prevents the cheap marketing of 
energy. All of the centres of population are supplied 
from near-by sources, leaving the vast majority of our 
water powers untouched. The growth of the popula- 
tion will bring new powers into use constantly, and the 
rapid growth of towns, together with the development 
of closely built orcharding communities, makes fresh 
markets requiring in a number of cases the tapping of 
new power resources. 

External commerce; beginning. The history of 
the external commerce of the Northwest began, as 
we have seen, with the efforts of the Hudson's Bay 
Company's agents to add to the company's profits by 



282 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

such trade. They were primarily fur traders, but 
the cheapest way to purchase the furs taken by the 
Russians along the coasts of Alaska and on the 
northern isles was to exchange for them wheat, flour, 
and other foodstuffs for which the Russians were will- 
ing to pay high prices. These supplies were produced 
at Fort Vancouver, and afterwards in the Willamette 
valley only a few miles away. They could be bought 
by the company in exchange for their merchandize, 
brought from London. By charging a good profit on 
the shoes, clothing, sugar, coffee, and other articles 
sold to the Oregon settlers in exchange for wheat, and 
then, at Sitka, receiving a good profit once more in 
the shape of fur, for the wheat and flour delivered 
there, the company was sure to prosper in that branch 
of its activity. They needed a sawmill for supplying 
their own lumber requirements, but once in operation 
this plant could produce economically an occasional 
cargo of lumber for shipment, which usually went to 
the Hawaiian Islands. Thus our external commerce 
began with wheat and lumber as the Northwest's con- 
tribution and wheat and lumber have remained to the 
present time the leading and almost the sole important 
items in our foreign trade. 

When the territory of Oregon was created by act of 
Congress in August, 1848, a United States custom 
house, the first on the western coast, was established at 
Astoria. For some years the ships entering and clear- 
ing at that port were almost without exception engaged 
in the California trade. But, as California's demand 



Industry and Commerce 283 

for Oregon wheat and Oregon lumber waned, because 
of local developments in farming and lumbering, other 
markets were gradually found. In the years 1865- 
1867, for example, most of the ships entering at 
Astoria were from Victoria, Vancouver Island, and 
from Honolulu. There was one from Mexico which 
brought a cargo of salt in bulk, over three hundred 
tons. The bark Cambridge, from Honolulu, in the 
same year (1865) brought brown sugar, molasses, 
limes, bananas, watermelons, and oranges. At the 
same time a schooner from Victoria unloaded furni- 
ture, pig iron, coal, coal tar, cod-fish, cast iron beds, 
several chests of tea, brandy, dress silks, wool shirts, 
mixed shirts, worsted table spreads, checked cotton 
cloth, and tweed coats — in short, a cargo made up of 
British manufactures mainly and evidently derived 
from Britain by the Hudson's Bay Company, now 
domiciled at Victoria, for trade with their one-time 
neighbours on the Columbia. In 1868 a ship came in 
from Liverpool, also one from Hongkong. The 
former brought earthen ware, stone ware, one thousand 
sacks of rice, matting, tea, oil, ginger, etc. The latter 
delivered anvils, vices, chains, saws, band iron, bar 
iron, horse shoe nails, curry combs, and worsted cloth. 
These examples give some idea of the diversity of 
the inward trade. Going out the ships carried away, 
aside from lumber and wheat, quantities of gold dust 
produced from the Inland Empire mines. By the year 
1870 the trade had sensibly increased. In October of 
that year the United States government established the 



284 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Willamette customs district, with a custom house at 
Portland. 

When Commander Charles Wilkes reported on his 
exploring expedition of the years 1838 to 1842, which 
carried him through nearly the entire circuit of the 
Pacific Ocean, he predicted a great foreign trade for 
the American communities destined to arise in Oregon 
and California. Wilkes was especially impressed with 
the harbours of Puget Sound and of San Francisco — 
" two of the finest ports in the world." Trade would 
spring up, he believed, between the west coast of Amer- 
ica and " the whole of Polynesia, as well as the coun- 
tries of South America on the one side and China, 
New Holland (Australia), and New Zealand on the 
other. Among the latter, before many years, may be 
included Japan." He adds, " Such various climates 
will furnish the materials for a beneficial interchange 
of products and an intercourse that must in time be- 
come immense." 

Prophecies of Charles Wilkes. Wilkes' predic- 
tion, insofar as it relates to the Pacific Northwest, 
is not yet fulfilled in all respects. Yet there is 
much in the course of our foreign trade which justi- 
fies it. In particular, the directions which that trade 
now takes on leaving the Northwestern ports ap- 
pear in the main to have been clearly outlined by 
Wilkes seventy years ago. If we take the list of ports 
given in the Portland custom house records of ships 
clearing from that port from January, 1909, to Decem- 
ber, 1916, we find: (1) That the cargoes in all cases 



Industry and Commerce 285 

are either lumber, or wheat, flour, grain; in two or 
three cases only are they "barley." (2) The lumber 
cargoes were destined for Hongkong, New Zealand, 
Australia, Manila and Calcutta; to Shanghai, Hankow, 
and Tsingtau in China; to Tokio, Kobi, and Yoka- 
hama in Japan ; to Callao, Darien, Colon, Buenos Ayres 
in Central and South America ; also to Delagoa Bay, to 
Antafagasta, to Kale, to Port Pirie, to Dalny; also to 
Queenstown for orders, to Newcastle, to Cape Town 
and to Hamburg. (3) Wheat and grain cargoes went 
to Hongkong, to New Zealand, to Queenstown for 
orders, to Dublin, to St. Vincent for orders, to Ipswich, 
London, and Avonmouth, to Teneriffe, Marseilles, 
Callao, Las Palmas, Antwerp and Rotterdam. 

A large proportion of the commerce originating in 
the Northwestern states is carried eastward by rail 
and amalgamated with the commerce of the Atlantic 
ports. The extent of such shipments cannot readily be 
ascertained. Moreover, much coastwise trade exists 
which adds commerce of Northwestern origin to the 
foreign business credited to San Francisco. These 
facts affect the total of our shipments to foreign ports 
very materially and they should be noted when statis- 
tics are under consideration. Also, the fact should be 
noted that a considerable portion of the Oregon trade 
passes through Puget Sound ports, thus affecting the 
relative trade statistics of Oregon and Washington. 
Idaho, of course, sends all of her products out by way 
of the ports of Oregon and Washington, except the 
portion borne eastward by rail. 



286 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

Statistics of commerce. Government statistics for 
the years 1914 and 191 5 show the following totals: 
From Oregon ports were exported, in 19 14, products 
nearly all domestic, amounting to $13,806,260 and 
from Washington $6v,374,909. The next year Ore- 
gon's exports were $20,405,601 and Washington's 
were $67,887,784. Oregon's imports in 1914 were 
valued at $3,890,000 and in 191 5 at $4,716,390, while 
Washington's imports were $55,391,565 and $68,466,- 
567 in the respective years. By way of comparison it 
may be pointed out that in the year 19 14 California 
exported goods valued at $65,000,000, which sum was 
increased the next year to $84,000,000. She im- 
ported in 19 14 to the extent of $72,000,000 and in 
191 5 to the extent of $71,000,000. 

The Alaska trade. The trade of Alaska is a mat- 
ter of very great interest to the entire Pacific North- 
west, and it engenders keen rivalry among the North- 
western ports. Thus far the Puget Sound ports, espe- 
cially Seattle, have profited most from the Alaska 
trade. By reason of the protected channel from Puget 
Sound to the southern Alaska ports, it would seem that 
this trade can be prosecuted more economically from 
the northern ports than from Oregon, except as to 
those articles which are produced in the region geo- 
graphically tributary to the Oregon ports or those car- 
ried coastward from the far interior by the routes 
reaching most easily one of the southern ports. 

The beginnings of the Alaska trade are graphically 
described by Mr. Henry Villard in his " Memoirs." In 



RBBBHBHBIS. 



mfiSJpBBBBB&fgft 

m#zvi;isut:B£G{* 
]%,}'> n'fs'i:r,i:i:EB at 




Industry and Commerce 287 

April, 1876, Villard sailed from San Francisco to 
Portland. " On reaching the mouth of the Columbia 
river," he says, " we saw a little screw steamer of 300 
tons register dancing up and down on the agitated sea. 
It proved to be the Gussie Telfair ... on her way 
from Alaska to Portland, but detained outside by the 
rough sea on the bar. She brought down from the 
recently acquired American possession three passen- 
gers, a score of tons of miscellaneous freight, and a 
letter bag with less than thirty letters. . . . The tri- 
fling load described was about equal to the average one 
for a trip one way and the business of the year aggre- 
gated only a few hundred passengers and not exceed- 
ing 700 tons of other than government freight. That 
represented practically the total of the Alaska trade of 
those days, and it grew very slowly." Villard was 
writing in the year 1899, and his reminiscent statement, 
given above, is for purposes of comparison with the 
Alaska trade of the later time, after the Klondike and 
other gold discoveries had awakened the vast North- 
land into a new life. He says : " During the past and 
present seasons (1898 and 1899) fifteen steamers rang- 
ing from two thousand seven hundred to a few hun- 
dred tons capacity, carried tens of thousands of passen- 
gers and freight aggregating not far from a hundred 
thousand tons to and from Alaska." 

Without attempting to trace the progress of the 
Alaska trade in detail, it may be pointed out that the 
Collector of Customs for the Alaska District, report- 
ing for the year ending December 31, 191 6, gives the 



288 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

following totals : Merchandise received from the 
United States, $30,834,793; shipped to the United 
States $62,507,811. Alaska shipped to foreign coun- 
tries, merchandise, $1,544,182, gold and silver, $2,- 
936,018. Her total exports were $84,622,450 and 
total imports $35,314,993. From 1868 to the end of 
19 1 6 Alaska is shown to have had a total trade, in sea 
and fur products, of $323,042,290, in products of 
mines $345,752,111, making a grand total of $668,- 
794,401. 

An analysis of the trade for the years 19 13, 19 14, 
191 5, and 1916 shows that the largest item now is cop- 
per, which in 19 16 accounted for $333/2 millions of 
dollars, an advance of nearly thirty millions over the 
production of 1913. Gold and silver made in 1913 
$13 millions of dollars, $14 2-3 millions of dollars in 
1914, $16 millions of dollars in 191 5 and $16 1-3 mil- 
lions of dollars in 19 16. The other large item is 
canned salmon, which in 19 16 makes $21^ millions 
of dollars of exports. 

It will be seen that Alaska produces vast quantities 
of the precious metals and of copper, as compared with 
the states of the Pacific Northwest. These and her 
canned salmon, furs, etc., give her people a large aver- 
age purchasing ability which explains the highly desir- 
able character of the Alaska trade. As yet, most of 
the general supplies required by them are imported 
much as they were in the days of the Russian fur 
trade. Nevertheless, this market cannot be regarded 
as permanent, for Alaska, too, is beginning to develop 



Industry and Commerce 289 

her agricultural and other resources which in some 
sections are not inconsiderable. Moreover, Alaska 
has an enormous reserve in her timber, which one day 
will seek an outside market in competition with that 
from the Northwestern states, and the exports of lum- 
ber will purchase, partly in foreign markets, many of 
the articles now brought in from Seattle or from Port- 
land. 

Influence of the Isthmian Canal. It is too early 
to speak definitely about the changes in Northwestern 
commerce due to the Isthmian Canal. But it is clear 
that, while the canal will open the Pacific basin to 
the trade of Atlantic and Gulf ports, it will at the 
same time open the Atlantic basin to the ports along 
the Pacific, including those of the Northwestern states, 
and such an exchange should prove not unfavourable 
to this region. The general feeling here is that, for 
the first time in the history of the Pacific coast states, 
their commercial opportunities are equal to those of the 
Atlantic states ; and it is expected that when the Euro- 
pean war ends, and the distinctive products of the 
Northwest — especially lumber, fish, and fruits — come 
once more into normal request abroad, the commercial 
progress of these states is likely to be phenomenal. 



CHAPTER XX 

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE 

Observations of a traveller in the Northwest. 
Entering the Oregon country by the old " Oregon 
Trail" in the summer of 1900, the writer was im- 
pressed with the thought that pioneer conditions were 
both absent and present. Compared to the social bar- 
renness, matching the physical barrenness, which was 
encountered by the emigrants of 1843, '44, and '45, 
one found every night even in the mountain stretches 
a sheltering ranch house by the side of the trail and 
usually good and abundant food. The line of the 
North Platte was marked by irrigated alfalfa meadows. 
On the Sweetwater also an occasional level, near a 
convenient water privilege, was ditched and cultivated, 
usually to produce winter feed for cattle, though here 
and there was a field of wheat grown by irrigation. 
Land was still cheap in those regions ; in fact excellent 
irrigated bottom land on the Platte was selling as low 
as $20.00 per acre, not an excessive price for wheat 
land guaranteed to produce a large yield each year. 

1 The sources of information for the present chapter, which 
deals mainly with recent developments, are in large part the di- 
rect observations made by the author during a residence of seven- 
teen years in the state of Oregon. 

290 



Social and Political Change 291 

From Caspar, Wyoming, to Rock Springs, a distance 
of some two hundred miles along the upper Platte, 
the Sweetwater, and over the mountains by way of 
South Pass there were no towns along the trail save 
the most primitive supply stations which were sep- 
arated by intervals of, say, fifty or sixty miles. The 
ranches in that region sometimes neighboured as close 
together as five or six miles, more often ten or twelve, 
sometimes eighteen or twenty, and once it was neces- 
sary to travel forty miles in an afternoon in order to 
find food and lodging. 

The journey, afoot and awheel, was tedious on ac- 
count of sandy roads and strong, persistent head winds. 
Sometimes the length and steepness of the grades ren- 
dered the toil of travel excessive. Yet, for travellers 
equipped with bicycles there were no other hardships, 
for one journeyed day after day through a country 
which was " settled," albeit with only a sparse popula- 
tion. 

The ranch houses encountered were genuine homes, 
representing the best traditions of American frontier 
life. They contained the usual comforts of farm 
homes and sometimes showed evidences of taste. 
Some good furniture, musical instruments, books, 
papers and magazines were customary accessories. 

The rancher was commonly a man of much more 
than the average intelligence. He was likewise 
spirited, resourceful, self-confident — sometimes self- 
assertive and arrogant. He made a sharp as well as 
broad distinction between his own class and the class 



292 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

he described as " hayseed farmers." He felt himself 
to be a kind of free continental aristocrat — a latter- 
day baron whose " fief," a hundred square miles of 
billowy grass land, supported no serfs and owed no 
services. His capital was mainly in his cattle. The 
herds varied in size from a few score to many hun- 
dreds. The unit of value was the marketable " steer," 
usually a three year old animal, fattened on the range. 
It was estimated that the cost of producing such an 
animal, under range conditions, was between twelve 
and fifteen dollars. It would sell for fifty dollars. 

Status of the " rancher " in commerce. Thus the 
owner of many cattle was a man of wealth. He could 
exert economic power which would be felt far beyond 
the boundaries of his unstinted " range." 

The type met with along the historic trail in Ne- 
braska and in Wyoming was the type of the rancher 
of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. In those states, 
as elsewhere, he often assumed the role of the " big 
business " man in other ways than as a large shipper 
of livestock or a " cattle king." Sometimes he invested 
money in banks, in railroad stocks, or in city property. 
He had his rating in the commercial reviews, and 
could hobnob with bankers, railroad presidents, and 
metropolitan merchants. He perhaps made no display 
of religion or philanthropy, yet he often helped to build 
churches, or to endow colleges. 

In politics. The rancher had a liking for politics. 
He attended party caucuses and conventions, ran for 
the state legislature, and sometimes defeated a lawyer 



Social and Political Change 293 

or metropolitan " business man " in the race for a seat 
in Congress. In proportion to their numbers, the 
ranchers of the Northwest have constituted a highly 
impressive class. Emerging from isolation to par- 
ticipate in the larger life of their commonwealths, they 
sometimes succeeded through a natural or acquired 
wisdom and eloquence, sometimes by virtue of a capa- 
cious wallet. 

Not infrequently the rancher was a picturesque 
character and this fact, when it did not make him seem 
absurd, imparted a dramatic quality which appeals to 
large sections of the public. 

It must not be forgotten that in recent years ranch 
life has come to be idealized and in consequence it has 
attracted men and women of superior attainments and 
culture. The city and college bred rancher, with splen- 
did social, business, and family connections in the east, 
is not altogether a rarity, though of course he is the ex- 
ceptional citizen on the sage plains as elsewhere. 

Changes in social life of the ranchers. Impor- 
tant changes are taking place in the social life of 
the ranching population. A transition similar to the 
change from the sprawling, unscientific pioneer farm- 
ing to the tight, efficient modern farming has oc- 
curred in the business of cattle raising and sheep rais- 
ing on the plains. Winter feeding and careful breed- 
ing conserve the livestock and render the animals much 
more valuable than formerly. The " home ranch " 
or farm becomes correspondingly more important than 
the " out range " which once was all important. Re- 



294 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

ducing the size of ranches has brought neighbours 
nearer together. Often a fertile river valley is well 
settled with families each of which owns hardly more 
land in the valley than would make a farm of reason- 
able size, range land being occupied outside. Such a 
valley makes a pleasant rural community, with all of 
the social facilities of the usual farm neighbourhood 
and with something additional but indefinable due to 
the free, joyous, untired spirit of ranch life as con- 
trasted with farm life. Moreover, the comparative 
opulence of the ranchers, the scale of their business 
operations, their frequent trips to large towns, their 
outside social and business connections, all contribute 
to lend interest to the life of these communities. 

An ideal ranching community. A present day 
example of a delightful plan of ranching came to 
the writer's attention recently. A group of eight 
individuals and families selected a location in a pleas- 
ant valley some sixty miles from a railway. Here 
they took up dry land homesteads, which under a recent 
act of Congress may reach a maximum of 640 acres. 
The group have expended money in the construction 
of good automobile roads, have an irrigating system 
and artesian water supply. They are building modern 
houses, barns, sheds, etc. Co-operating in this manner 
they will create not merely a good ranching business, 
bringing liberal returns, but an ideal community from 
which the old isolation and crudeness have disap- 
peared. 

Fruit growing districts; social advantages. By 



Social and Political Change 295 

contrast to the openness of settlement on the sage 
plains, the Northwestern states present a number of 
areas devoted to fruit growing, where agricultural 
populations attain a closeness of social organization 
approximating the incorporated towns. Thus they are 
able to give themselves those fundamental advantages 
of living represented by the modern home, with its 
water and sewer services, its electric light and electric 
power and garden irrigation ; schools equal to those of 
the towns; clubs, lodges, churches; convenient stores, 
shops, etc. If one were asked to point to a region 
where rural life in the United States is at its best, 
socially considered, he would probably designate one 
or another of these favoured settlements, of which it 
is commonly said that they enjoy all the advantages of 
the town combined with those of the country. They 
differ from the New England villages of early times 
and yet have the promise of an influence similar in 
many respects. In them co-operation is fostered, the 
community spirit dominates the individual, leaders are 
discovered and public opinion takes on an organic char- 
acter to replace the anarchic, chaotic quality it so fre- 
quently presents under less hopeful circumstances. 

Changes in farm life. Rural life in the ordinary 
farming sections like the Williamette Valley is pass- 
ing through marked changes due to the breaking-up 
of the large farms of pioneer times, the improvement 
of roads, the construction of electric rail lines, the tele- 
phone and the automobile. The effort to improve 
social conditions is perhaps as determined here as else- 



296 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

where in the United States; the problem to be solved 
is not especially different, the obstacles quite as unre- 
lenting. Indeed, the fluctuations of population, the 
" moving out " of old settlers and " moving in " of 
new possibly adds a feature which is absent from the 
problem in some sections, but it is an element not de- 
void of certain advantages. Sometimes the only hope 
of improvement in a neighbourhood lies in the intro- 
duction of new blood, or the death or translation of 
some one who has hindered social development. 

The usual plans are being followed in the main by 
social reformers dealing with country life. They in- 
clude the attempt to organize farmers into granges or 
farmers' unions, to develop local clubs, to promote a 
better and more adequate type of rural education by 
substituting the systematized consolidated " rural life 
school " for the traditional one-room one-teacher coun- 
try district school. There are attempts likewise to 
improve the recreational and religious conditions of the 
country neighbourhood. 

All sorts of influences are at work. The farm peo- 
ple of good ideals are earnest and untiring. Merchants 
and bankers are interested, state agencies like univer- 
sity and agricultural college extension services and the 
educational departments, national bureaus of educa- 
tion and of agriculture — all are active here as in other 
sections of the United States. And progress is being 
made, although to the impatient reformer the forward 
movement seems slow and tedious. 

Organization of rural communities from village 



Social and Political Change 297 

centres. One new line of strategy has recently been 
developed. It takes the small town or the village as 
its point of departure and regards this as the focal 
point of a community compounded of town and coun- 
try. The towns of small size, that have no manufac- 
turing or other self-supporting activities, are to-day de- 
pendent for their prosperity upon the business created 
by the country demand for supplies of all sorts and for 
local marketing facilities. Since the rural mail serv- 
ice, the improved economics of the farms, the mail or- 
der house and the automobile have freed the farmers 
from their old time dependence upon the local town, it 
becomes necessary for the towns as a measure of self- 
preservation to make overtures to the country people in 
the hope of establishing new and mutually beneficial 
relations between them and the towns. In the pro- 
posed interchange of benefits the towns can offer, if 
they will, a modernized mercantile service, which will 
at once exclude the mail order house from the com- 
munity. It can offer in many cases the readiest and 
best solution of the problem of giving country boys 
and girls adequate educational opportunities, to which 
end it needs merely to adapt the work of the town 
school more fully to the needs of country pupils, and 
to secure the inclusion of the entire community area 
in the school district — at least for high school pur- 
poses. The town can also afford social, recreational, 
and religious opportunities to supplement the more 
strictly local or neighbourhood opportunities now en- 
joyed by rural dwellers. Many special favours could 



298 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

be extended by the town to its rural constituency once 
the community limits have been determined, which is 
obviously the first step. A rational and generous zone 
system of truck and jitney fees, a physician's fee scale 
which should distribute the expense of medical attend- 
ance somewhat more equitably between town and coun- 
try dwellers, a plan of delivering groceries, fresh 
meats, etc., to farm customers at moderate expense, and 
a freight transportation service placed at the farmers' 
call are some of the obvious means of serving the rural 
needs. A number of small towns have already re- 
sponded to the suggestion, and have initiated plans for 
town and country co-operation which have the promise 
of excellent results for both. 

The wheat growing communities; how can they 
have a social life? The least hopeful of the agricul- 
tural communities from the social aspect are those 
which depend upon large scale wheat growing. As 
was pointed out in Chapter XVIII above, the profits 
of wheat growing increase with the size of the farms 
devoted to it, up to a point not easily passed. The re- 
sult has been the progressive elimination of the small 
farmer or homesteader, the joining of field to field, 
under the same management, until community life as 
such has in many places disappeared. In some sec- 
tions school houses, churches, and other evidences of a 
former social prosperity are abandoned and decaying 
in the midst of continuous wheat fields. The owners 
of the great wheat farms often live in the larger towns, 
leaving hired men or " renters " on the farms. These 



Social and Political Change 299 

men and their families have no schools, churches, or 
clubs at convenient distances, and are compelled to 
pass their days in a dreary round of unrelieved toil. 

It is a serious question what the future has in store 
for the wheat belt populations. If all the power used 
on these farms were machine power, then the culti- 
vators as well as the owners could perhaps live in the 
towns, using the auto for rapid transit to and from 
the home and farm. But as yet much of the power 
used is supplied by horses or mules which require at- 
tention early and late and winter as well as summer. 
The breaking up of the large holdings is in some sec- 
tions not to be expected for many years. In some 
cases the wheat lands will probably be degraded into 
pasture lands as their soils deteriorate. In others the 
natural remedy, a permanent agriculture of more in- 
tensive character, will apply. 

The large towns. Life in the larger towns and 
cities of the Northwest is undergoing rapid develop- 
ment due primarily to a splendid period of growth 
which has brought, with increased wealth, a multitude 
of new social and economic problems. The solution 
of these has sometimes proved too difficult for the peo- 
ple acting under their democratic city charters. In 
such cases the population has been factionalized and 
social conditions are consequently bad. 

Most frequently the causes of disruption have been 
the liquor question and corporation control of utilities. 
Within the past two years all three of the Northwest- 
ern states have adopted state prohibition laws, which 



300 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

have resulted in eliminating from towns the old prob- 
lem of regulating or prohibiting the sale of liquor. 
And the movement toward municipalizing water, light 
and power has now become so strong, even in towns of 
moderate size, that a democratic solution of the gen- 
eral problems seems to be assured. 

There is as much difference in spirit between any 
two of our larger cities as there is between two of the 
Atlantic cities, say, New York and Philadelphia. In 
our new cities, moreover, it is sometimes easy to see 
how the local spirit was created. Usually it is ascrib- 
able either to a peculiar set of conditions or to a group 
of men. Some cities appear short-sighted in planning, 
irresolute, or incompetent in carrying out schemes of 
social, commercial or industrial development. Inquiry 
usually ascertains the cause to lie in a narrow individu- 
alism which has characterized its " leading citizen " 
class. Another is overbold, confident, generous to 
rashness, speculative, characteristics which once more 
reflect qualities inherent in its leadership. Sometimes 
the mixed character of the population militates against 
unity of action under even the wisest leadership. Al- 
though the populations of Northwestern cities are less 
complex than are those of Eastern and Middle Western 
cities, nevertheless one finds everywhere the deep social 
rift between the "masses" and the "classes" which 
constitutes the special problem of American democracy. 

Geographical problems. The geography of each 
of the three states of this group has had an unfortu- 
nate effect on the sentiment of unity. Oregon and 



Social and Political Change 301 

Washington are divided by the Cascade Mountains 
into western and eastern sections, while Idaho is di- 
vided by an east and west line. The eastern sections 
of Oregon and Washington differ from the western 
in soil, climate, productions, and largely in the con- 
ditions of life of their populations. Ranching, wheat 
raising, and mining are the three chief interests 
of the inland country; the coast country has most 
of the commercial cities, lumber and other manufac- 
tures, fisheries, and general farming which is becoming 
steadily more specialized. The inland population 
spreads thinly over a vast area with few towns, mostly 
small ; in the west the towns have more people than 
the country. Portland has about one-third of the total 
population of Oregon. Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett 
on Puget Sound aggregate about as large a proportion 
of the people of Washington. 

In earlier times, before the admission of Washington 
and Idaho territories into the Union, schemes for the 
division and rearrangement of these territories were 
perennial. At present there is new state activity only 
in Idaho, where during the recent legislative session 
north and south clashed over questions relating to the 
removal of the State University to Boise in the south 
from Moscow in the north with the result that a plan 
of division was proposed. What the outcome will be 
is problematical. 

In Oregon and Washington the eastern and western 
sections are usually able to compose their differences 
amicably. The west is proud of the development 



302 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

which is going on east of the Cascades, of the enormous 
crops of wheat which swell the commerce of the port 
cities, of the wealth represented by millions of cattle, 
sheep and horses, all of which serves to support state 
government and activities. The east, while a little con- 
temptuous of the more conservative west, respects it 
nevertheless as both the more populous and more de- 
veloped region. Particularly do the easterners show 
consideration for the cities which are the commercial 
entrepots of these states. More or less trading goes 
forward at legislative sessions. The east — like all 
newer sections — feels itself badly treated in the dis- 
tribution of state institutions, most of which are located 
in the west, and various attempts have been made with 
only partial success to balance the respective interests 
of the sections. On the whole, serious misunderstand- 
ings have generally been evaded. 

A great point in the mitigation of sectional strife 
has been the fact that lines of communication cut across 
these states from east to west. The main railways 
either cross the Cascade Mountains or follow the line 
of the Columbia to tide-water. Feeders extend inland 
from these main lines. The Eastern Oregon town of 
Bend, on the Des Chutes, almost directly east of the 
Willamette Valley town of Eugene, is now within a 
few hours of Portland and her people feel as closely 
bound to their sea-port as do the residents of Eugene. 
Thus the social and economic influence of commerce is 
overcoming momentous natural forces in producing a 
genuine commonwealth sentiment in these states. 



Social and Political Change 303 

Radicalism in the Northwest. The Oregon Sys- 
tem. Much has been said and written about the ab- 
normal and foolish radicalism of the Northwest, par- 
ticularly Oregon. The basis of Oregon's reputation in 
that regard is found in her adoption of the so-called 
" Oregon System " of direct legislation — the Initia- 
tive and the Referendum — together with other de- 
vices like the recall and direct election of United States 
senators by a provision in the primary election law. 
The fact is that this legislation is almost wholly ascrib- 
able to influences running back twenty-five years to 
the Populist agitation, and to a leadership which the 
Populist movement evoked. It simply happened that, 
while in other states the passing of Populism left no 
definite institutional results, in Oregon owing mainly 
to the organizing efforts of one man, Mr. W. S. U'Ren, 
the direct legislation features of the propaganda were 
brought very cleverly before the people at a time 
when disgust with representative government was ex- 
treme and were adopted. The rest was easy, par- 
ticularly since Mr. U'Ren's " People's Power League " 
maintained an effective organization for promoting his 
ideas. 

In view of the adoption of initiative and referendum 
amendments in most of the Western states, since Ore- 
gon blazed the way, it can hardly be maintained that the 
radicalism of the Oregon people was peculiar. Ore- 
gonians, and in fact Northwesterners generally, are 
better described as progressive than as radical. The 
same men who gained an almost unique popularity as 



304 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

leaders in securing this progressive legislation have 
gone down to defeat in their attempts to pass, by initia- 
tive, legislation like the single tax which the people re- 
gard as unjust. Mr. U'Ren himself, as candidate for 
governor in Oregon in 19 14, was badly beaten. The 
people honour him as father of the Oregon system: 
they assign him very unusual gifts as a political me- 
chanician; but being unconvinced of the soundness of 
his statesmanship they refuse to follow him in matters 
of general state policy. That fact argues strongly 
against the charge that the people are unduly radical or 
easily stampeded. 

Equal suffrage. The Northwestern states have 
adopted equal suffrage amendments to their constitu- 
tions. This is the result of a campaign covering half 
a century in which the leading protagonist of 
" women's rights " was a remarkable woman of fron- 
tier type named Abigail Scott Duniway. Mrs. Duni- 
way spent the best years of a long and intensely active 
life carrying the message of equality between the sexes 
into every nook and cranny of these states. She lived 
to see the fruition of her work. 

Prohibition of the liquor traffic. As stated above, 
all of these states have laws prohibiting the manu- 
facture and sale for beverage purposes of alcoholic 
liquors. State prohibition sentiment was a gradual 
development. For a number of years under local 
option laws numbers of towns and localities became 
habituated to the saloon-less or " dry " condition. 
They saw the arguments of the opposition disproved, 



Social and Political Change 305 

their predictions of economic ruin confounded by the 
fact of a new prosperity. For a long time the eco- 
nomic argument that it would " hurt the town " pre- 
vented the business class from throwing their in- 
fluence heartily for reform. But when their fears 
were dispelled by the successful experience of towns 
here and there, a tremendous new force was enlisted 
and progress toward universal prohibition became easy 
and rapid. It is notable that while the earlier argu- 
ments for the abolition of the liquor traffic were al- 
most wholly ethical or moral, the arguments used in 
the final successful campaigns were generally economic 
and social. 

Independent voting. In the days of extreme 
party domination it used to be held by sociologists that 
a marked tendency among the people of a state to in- 
dependence in voting was a sign of exceptional intelli- 
gence. By that test the people of the Northwest would 
at once take front rank. Their voting, for many 
years, has been characterized by nothing so much as a 
determination to be irregular. In Oregon, for ex- 
ample, where the Republicans have had a clear and 
large majority, nominally, since reconstruction days, 
the people in the past sixteen years have generally 
chosen a Democratic governor. They are now repre- 
sented in the United States Senate by two Democrats, 1 
while their house members are all Republican. In 
1912 the presidential primary gave the Republican 

1 Since the above was written death has removed one of these, 
his place being filled by a Republican. 



306 A History of the Pacific Northwest 

nomination to Roosevelt and the election resulted in 
the choice of Wilson electors. In 191 6, Washington 
and Idaho both gave their electoral votes to Wilson, 
while Oregon by a small majority gave hers to 
Hughes. 

The problems of direct legislation. One of the 
important problems of our new democracy is to ascer- 
tain the limits within which the direct expression of 
the popular will, in an election, is efficient as a political 
remedy. We have a new freedom and the question is 
how to use it most wisely. Oregon's experience shows 
that the initiative and referendum do not constitute a 
panacea for all political or social ills. For one thing, 
the number of measures presented to the people, on an 
enormously long ballot, is sometimes so great that no 
true expression of the people's will can be hoped for. 
Methods of securing a shorter ballot have been dis- 
cussed but without much result. 

Conference and conciliation needed. It is not 
commonly recognized that under the direct legislation 
system there is much room for the oppression of 
minorities. Voting, after all, may be merely the 
trench warfare of politics. Somewhere in the system 
provision should be made for conference and concilia- 
tion, so that measures, when they appear on the ballot, 
may represent, at best, the aspirations of the most 
thoughtful minds among all sections of the population, 
at worst a tolerable compromise of their conflicting 
opinions. For this class and that class, without 
mutual consultation, to load the ballot with measures 



Social and Political Change 307 

sharply inimical to one another's interests will in the 
long run work more havoc to our ideals of social unity 
than was wrought by the old time machine-controlled 
convention and legislature, which even at the worst 
took some account of the sentiments of all classes. 

The remedy for the evil here pointed out lies in a 
new institution which is no more a part of the state 
constitution than was the political convention, namely, 
the conference. To an increasing extent, the people 
of these states are habituating themselves to the idea 
that all wisdom does not reside in a class dominated by 
a single interest. They begin to recognize that since 
legislation affects all interests, the proposing of legisla- 
tion like the nomination of candidates for office is a 
matter on which all interests should be consulted. 

In Oregon the state University has for a number of 
years held an annual " Commonwealth Conference " 
for the discussion of questions on which legislation 
would probably be formulated later. In these confer- 
ences all interests have been represented and the views 
of all have been frankly stated. The result has been 
a mitigation of animosities and the acceptance of the 
commonwealth spirit as opposed to a class or section 
spirit, which means a desire to do justice. Other con- 
ferences, likewise, have been held, some at other edu- 
cational institutions, some at the state capitals, and 
some elsewhere. The people are getting the conference 
habit, which, to the writer's mind, is the best guarantee 
that the new democracy will succeed, and that it will 
have a tremendous influence in socializing our people. 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



INDEX 



Abernethy, George, visited by 
Lieutenant Wilkes, 139. 

Adams, John Quincy, memoirs 
cited, 89 n. ; Ontario in- 
cident, 90-1 ; Astoria, 92; 
Spanish treaty, 93-4; in- 
structions to R. Rush, 
10 1-2. 

Agriculture, progress of, 246- 
268. 

Alar^on, Spanish explorer, 5. 

Alaska, discovered by Bering 
and Tchirikoff, 10; ex- 
plored by Cuadra, 12; by 
Cook, 14 ; by Vancouver, 
19; Russian trade of, 69; 
Astor's trade to, 69, 77 ; 
Hudson Bay Company 
trade to, in flour, 85 ; 
treaties concerning, 94-5 ; 
recent trade development 
of, 286-288. 

Albatross, Ship, 77. See Hunt. 

Albion, New. See Drake, 
Cook. 

Allegheny Mountains, crossing 
of by pioneers, 39; com- 
munication with sea- 
board across, 40. 

American Board of Commis- 
sioners of Foreign Mis- 
sions sends Dr. Parker 
to Oregon, 119. See Mis- 
sions. 

American Fur Company, 
founded by Astor, 68. 



American Philosophical Soci- 
ety, Jefferson's connec- 
tion with, and Michaux, 
36. 

Anson, George, his voyage in 
the Pacific, 8. 

Applegate, Jesse, " A Day with 
the Cow-Column," 149- 
154; remakes the provi- 
sional government in 
1845, 165-6; draws Hud- 
son Bay Company into 
it, 172 ; settles in Ump- 
qua Valley, 214. 

Arctic Ocean visited. See 
Hearne, Mackenzie. 

Ashburton, Lord, negotiates 
with Webster, 173- 

175- 

Ashley, Gen. William H., or- 
ganizes Rocky Mountain 
Fur Company, 107; sells 
to Smith, Jackson & Sub- 
lette, 108. 

Astor, John Jacob, plans west- 
ern fur trade, 68; sends 
Tonquin to Columbia, 69; 
sends overland party, 71 ; 
sends the Beaver, 73 ; 
partners sell Astoria, 77; 
his interest in its restora- 
tion, 89, 90. 

Astoria, founded by Astor's 
party, 71 ; sold to North- 
west Company, 77 ; cap- 
tured by ship Raccoon, 



309 



3io 



Index 



78; restored, 92; first 
custom house at, 282. 

Babcock, Dr. Ira L., goes to 
Dalles Mission, 137. 

Bagley, C. B., private library 
utilized, 212 n. 

Bagot, Charles, British min- 
ister protests plan to 
send Ontario to Colum- 
bia, 90-91. 

Baker, Dr. D. S., builds Walla 
Walla and Columbia 
River Railway, 229 n. 

Baker, city in Eastern Oregon, 
railroad to, 242. 

Balboa, discovers Pacific 
Ocean, 1. 

Ball, John, with Wyeth, first 
school master in Oregon, 
86 n. 

Beers, Alanson, and family, 
119. 

Bellingham Bay, proximity of 
coal mines to, 210. 

Benton, Thomas H., on Oregon 
Question, 101 ; writes let- 
ter to Oregon settlers, 
187. 

Bering, Vitus, discoveries of, 
9-10. 

Biddle, Captain, ship Ontario 
ordered to Columbia, 90, 

9i. 
Nicholas, edits journal of 
Lewis and Clark, 61 n. 

Blackfoot Indians, attitude to- 
ward Hunt's party, 72; 
American traders, 107. 

Blanchet, Reverend Father, 
mission of, in Willam- 
ette Valley, 125'. 

Boise, Fort, 121. 



Valley, or Basin, mining in, 

224; agriculture of, 229. 
Bonneville, Captain, trades and 

explores west of Rockies, 

109-110. 
Boone, Daniel, interviewed by 

Bradbury, 72 n. 
Brewer, missionary assistant, 

137. 

British Columbia, gold rush to, 
222. 

Broughton, Lieutenant, ex- 
plores Columbia River, 

23- 

Bryant, William Cullen, pop- 
ularizes the name " Ore- 
gon " through Thana- 
topsis, 96. 

Buchanan, James, Secretary of 
State, writes to Oregon 
people, 186-7 ; negotiates 
with Pakenham, 180-81. 

Burnett, Peter H., helps to 
raise emigrating com- 
pany, 147 ; letters to New 
York Herald, 147 ; 
elected captain, 148; re- 
signs, 148; goes to Cali- 
fornia, 203. 

Cabrillo, Spanish explorer, dis- 
covers San Diego Bay, 
6. 

Calhoun, John C, his argument 
in Oregon negotiation, 
181 ; opposes Territorial 
Bill for Oregon, 187. 

California, origin of name, 5 ; 
discovery, 6; exploration 
of coast, 7; Drake in, 6; 
Vizcaino's exploration of, 
7; planting of missions 
and presidios, 10, 11; 



Index 



3ii 



northern explorations 
from, 11, 12; in 1846, 
200; conquest, 201; gold 
discovery, 201 ; historical 
results of, 205-206; rail- 
way to, 238-240; to Ore- 
gon from, 241. 
Gulf, explored, 5. 
Peninsula, discovery, at- 
tempted colony, 5 ; mis- 
sions in, 10. 
Trail, 206. 

Canal, Erie, 106. 
Interoceanic, first suggestion 
of, 3- 

Canton (Chinese city), be- 
comes market for North- 
west furs, 16. 

Cape, East, named by Cook, 14. 
Prince of Wales, named by 
Cook, 14. 

Carver, Captain Jonathan, gave 
name " Oregon," 27- 

Cascade Mountains, pierced by 
Columbia River, 219. 

Cascades of the Columbia, 
passed by Lewis and 
Clark, 58; obstruction to 
navigation, 225. 

Catholics, 124 ; missions, 125 ; 
ladder, 125. 

Cattle Company, Willamette, 
128-130. 

Cayuse Indians. See Whitman 
massacre. 

Cedros Island, reached by Ul- 
loa, 5. 

Celilo, or Great Falls of the 
Columbia, 58; obstructs 
navigation, 225. 

Central Pacific Railway, 238. 

Champoeg, visited by Wilkes, 
138; settlers' convention 



at, to adopt provisional 
government, 161. 
China, trade with in furs, be- 
gun, 15-16; from U. S. 
opened, 22; Astor's proj- 
ect, 69; Beaver sails for, 

77- 

Chinese labourers build Central 
Pacific Railway, 240. 

Chinook Indians, trade with 
Lewis and Clark, 60. 

Chittenden, Captain H. M., his- 
tory of the fur trade, 
106. 

Clark, George Rogers, Jeffer- 
son's letter to, about an 
exploration of the West, 
34- 

Clark, John, fur trader of As- 
tor party, 76. 

Clark, Miss , missionary 

teacher, goes to Nes- 
qually Mission, 137. 

Clark, Captain William, se- 
lected as associate by 
Lewis, 48; early career, 
48 ; receives Nez Perces 
delegation at St. Louis, 
116; see Lewis and 
Clark's expedition, Chap. 
IV. 

Clark's Fork, of Columbia, 57 ; 
D. Thompson builds fort 
on, 74; Astor's men on, 
76, reached by steamboat, 
225. 

Clatsop County, 170. 
Fort, winter camp of Lewis 

and Clark, 59. 
Indians of Lower Columbia, 
90. 

Clayoquot Harbour, ship Ton- 
quin destroyed in, 71. 



312 



Index 



Clearwater River, branch of 
Snake River, Lewis and 
Clark embark at, 58; 
Lapwai Mission on, 122; 
gold mining on, 222 ; ag- 
riculture of, 229. 

Cceur d'Alene Prairie, viewed 
by General Stevens, 221. 

Colleges in the Northwest, 208 
n. 

Columbia, Boston ship on 
Northwest Coast, 22-24. 

Columbia River, first seen by 
Heceta, 12 ; name " Ore- 
gon " applied to, 96 ; en- 
tered and named by Gray, 
23 ; entered by Brough- 
ton for Vancouver, 23-4; 
explored by Lewis and 
Clark, 57-61 ; occupied by 
Astor party, 70-78; con- 
trolled by Northwest 
Company, 79; by Hud- 
son Bay Company, 80 ff. ; 
American traders visit, 
107-113; missions planted 
on, 1 16-126; navigation 
of, 225. 

Columbus, Ohio, Oregon agita- 
tion at, 146. 

Colville, mining near, 222. 

Commerce, growth of Industry 
and, Chap. XIX. 

Compact, Government by, in 
Oregon, 162. 

Cone, Reverend W. W., mis- 
sionary, 137. 

Constitutional Convention, in 
Oregon, 218. 

Cook, Captain James, explores 
Northwest Coast en 
Third expedition, 13-14; 
originates Northwest and 



China fur trade, 15-16. 
Inlet, or River, in Alaska, 

IS- 

Coos Bay, settlements begun at, 
215; coal mining at, 215; 
railway to, 245. 

Coppermine River, explored by 
Hearne, 12. 

Coronado, 5. 

Cortez, Hernando, explores Pa- 
cific Coast, 4, 5. 

Coues, Dr. Elliott, historian, his 
muster roll of the Lewis 
and Clark party, 51 n. 

Council Bluff, named by Lewis 
and Clark, 53. 

Cowlitz River, avenue for trade 
to Puget Sound, 80. 

iCox, Ross, " Adventures," etc., 
78 n. 

Cuadra, Bodega, Spanish nav- 
igator, explores Puget 
Sound waters, with Van- 
couver, 20. 

Cushing, Caleb, reports on Ore- 
gon to Congress, 1839, 
134. 

Dakota, South, 72. 

Dalles of the Columbia, or 
Long Narrows, 58. 

Darien, 12. 

DesChutes River, Wyeth on, 
112; railway along, 244; 
water power of, 281. 

Dobbs, Arthur, eighteenth cen- 
tury English publicist, 
book on Hudson Bay 
prophesies British expan- 
sion in the Pacific, 8; 
urges finding of North- 
west Passage, 9. 

Donation Land Law, 253. 



Index 



313 



Douglas, Stephen A., intro- 
duces Oregon Territory 
bill, 186; Pacific railway 
plans, 233. 

Drake, Sir Francis, cruises in 
the Pacific, 1577-8, 6. 

DuBois River, Lewis and Clark 
camp at, 51. 

Dunn, John, " Oregon Terri- 
tory " quoted, 63 n. 

Dye, Eva Emery, author of 
" The Conquest," relating 
to Lewis and Clark, 51 
n. and " McLoughlin and 
Old Oregon," 81 n. 

Edgecumbe, Mt., discovered by 
Cuadra, 12; named by 
Cook, 14. 

Edwards, P. S., assistant to 
Jason Lee, 117; with 
Willamette Cattle Com- 
pany, 130. 

Eells, Reverend Cushing, mis- 
sionary of the A. B. C. 
F. M., locates in Spokane 
country, 123. 

Elm Grove Mt., pioneers start 
from, 1843, 147. 

Farnham, Thomas J., visits 
Oregon, 133; writes pop- 
ular treatise on, 133. 

Ferelo, Spanish navigator with 
Cabrillo, 6. 

Fisheries, whale, on Northwest 
Coast, create interest in 
Congress, 98; Wyeth's 
salmon fishing project, 
112; value of salmon 
pack, 276-277. 

Flathead Indians, mission 



planned for by Metho- 
dists, 116. 

Florida, Jefferson tries to lump 
West Florida with New 
Orleans, 42; purchase of 
Florida, treaty of limits 
with Spain, 93. 

Floyd, Charles, with Lewis and 
Clark, dies on journey, 
53- 
John, M. C. from Virginia, 
begins agitation over 
Oregon in Congress, 
makes report, 96; speech 
on Oregon Territory 
Bill, 97-8- 

Franchere, Gabriel, clerk of Pa- 
cific Fur Company, his 
" Narrative" quoted, 71. 

Franciscans, founded Califor- 
nia missions, 10. 

Eraser, Irwin, British trader 
and explorer, descends 
Fraser River to Pacific, 
65-6. 

Fremont, Captain John C, in 
California, 1846, 200-201 ; 
was perhaps surveying 
railway route to San 
Francisco Bay, 235. 

Frost, Reverend J. H., mission- 
ary, 137. 

Fuca, Juan de, legend of, con- 
cerning the strait, 13. 

Gallatin, Albert, negotiates with 

Great Britain, 104. 
Gama, Vasco da, 3. 
Genet, French minisiter to 

U. S., 37. 

George, Fort, British rechristen 

Astoria, 78. 
Grand Ronde Valley, reached 



3H 



Index 



by Hunt's party, 73; 
crossed by emigrants in 
1843, 155; settlement of, 
227. 

Gray's Harbour, discovered by 
Robert Gray, 23 ; salmon 
pack of, 277. 

Gray, Captain Robert, com- 
mands ship Columbia on 
voyage to China, 22 ; dis- 
covers Gray's Harbour 
and Columbia River, 23. 

Gray, William H., missionary 
assistant of Whitman, 
121 ; trip east and re- 
turn, 123; aids in provi- 
sional government move- 
ment, 161 n. 

Great Britain sends Commo- 
dore Anson to the Pa- 
cific in 1740, 8; Arthur 
Dobbs prophesies British 
expansion in Pacific, 8, 
9 ; dispatches succession 
of navigators, 9; persists 
in search for Northwest 
Passage, 9 ; Cook sent to 
Northwest Coast, 12 ; 
her mercantile explorers, 
16 ff. ; Nootka Conven- 
tion with Spain, 18, 19; 
sends Vancouver to 
Northwest Coast, 19-21 ; 
joins issue with U. S. 
over Oregon, 90; accepts 
joint occupation treaty, 
92-3; offers 49th parallel 
boundary, 185'. 
Greeley, Horace, quoted, 167 n. 
Grenville, Point, Heceta lands 
at, 11. 

Hall, Fort, built by Wyeth, 



in ; emigrating party, 

1843, at, 154. 

Hanna, James, begins fur trade 
of the Northwest Coast, 
17 n. 

Hearne, Samuel, explorer, 12, 
24. 

Heceta, Spanish explorer, lands 
at Point Grenville, 11 ; 
saw mouth of Columbia, 
12. 

Helena (Montana town), min- 
ing camp supplied, 225. 

Henry-Thompson Journals, 
cited, 78 n. 

Hines, Reverend Gustavus, mis- 
sionary, 137; makes 
Fourth of July address, 
1843, 162. 

Hood River Valley, famous 
fruit area, 264. 

Hudson Bay, 12; port at, in 
Mackenzie's plan, 26; 
York Factory on, 80. 

Hudson's Bay Company, char- 
tered, 1669, 9 n. ; neglects 
exploring function, 9; its 
trade, in the Northwest, 
Chap. VI. 

Hunt, Wilson Price, Astor's 
partner, gathers party 
for overland journey to 
Columbia, 71-2 ; arrives 
on Columbia, 72, ; sails to 
Alaska on Beaver, 77; 
returns to Astoria, and 
home, 78. 

Idaho, mining in, 222; popula- 
tion and wealth, 246; 
number of farms, 251 ; 
values of farm property, 



Index 



315 



252-254; sectionalism in, 
301. 

Indian affairs, White sub agent 
for Oregon, 140. 
War. Cayuse, causes of the 
Whitman massacre, 191- 
2; the rescue of pris- 
oners, 192-3; declaration 
of war, 193 ; effect 
on Congress, 194-196 ; 
Rogue River War, 215- 
16; other wars, 216-218; 
effect on emigration to 
Inland Empire, 221-2. 

Indians, Northwest, trade with 
Cook's men, 15 ; with 
Gray, newly found In- 
dians best customers, 23 
n. ; character of, in 
Western Oregon, 1 19 ; in 
interior, 122; response to 
missionary effort, 122-3. 
See Fur Trade, Missions, 
and Indian Wars. 

Inland Empire, Chap. XVI. 

Iowa, emigrating companies 
formed in, 146. 

Irrigation, practised by mis- 
sionaries, 124; revolu- 
tionizes land values, 265. 

Irving, Washington, " Astoria " 
referred to, 78 n. ; " Ad- 
ventures of Captain Bon- 
neville," 109 ; Isaac Todd, 
ship of Northwest Com- 
pany, arrives in Colum- 
bia, 79; brings first cat- 
tle, 83. 

Jackson, President, sends Slo- 
cum to Pacific Coast, 127. 
Davis, fur trader, 107, 108. 
John R., settles between 



Cowlitz and Puget 
Sound, 171. 

Jackson Creek, gold discovered 
on, 214. 

Jacksonville, founded in 1851. 

Jefferson, Thomas, sources of 
his interest in the west, 
31; what he knew of 
western geography in 
1782, 31-33; scientific in- 
terest, the "big bones," 
33-4 and n. ; connection 
with Ledyard, 35-6 ; with 
Michaux, 36-7 ; interest 
in Mississippi, 42; the 
special message suggest- 
ing a transcontinental 
exploration, 42-44; polit- 
ical motives, 44-46; his 
instructions to Lewis, 
49-50. 

John, Chief, 217. 

John Day's River, gold mining 
on, 222 ; packing to, 224. 

Johnson, Elvira, missionary, 
119 n. 

Joint-occupation, treaty of, 92. 

Kamiah, mission station, 123 n. 

Kamiakin, Indian chief, 217. 

Kamtschatka, 35. 

Kamloops, Fort of Hudson 
Bay Company on Fraser 
River, 82. 

Kansas River, traders from, 
seen by Lewis and Clark, 
52. 

Kelley, Hall J., agitates Ore- 
gon question in Boston, 
no n. ; influences Wyeth, 
no. 

Kendrick, Captain John, 22. 

Kenton, Simon, 145. 



316 



Index 



Kentucky, early settlement of, 

39- 
Kootenai, fur trading station, 
of Northwest Company, 
74; mining region, 222. 

La Charette, Boone's home, As- 

tor party stop at, 72 n. 
Lady Washington, Gray's ship, 

22. 
La Grande, 228. 
Lane, General Joseph, governor 
of Oregon Territory, 
196 ; sketch, 197 n. ; in 
Congress, Washington 
Territory Bill, 212; 
prominent in Rogue 
River War, 216. 
Langley, H. B. Fort, 82. 
Lapwai, mission on Clearwater, 

122. See Missions. 
Ledyard, John, confers with 
Jefferson in Paris, 35; 
plans of exploration, 35- 
36 ; returns from Siberia, 
36. 
Lee, Reverend Daniel, mission- 
ary, assistant of Jason 
Lee, 117; writes "The 
First Ten Years of 
Oregon," with J. H. 
Frost, 117 n. 
Reverend Jason, founds Wil- 
lamette Mission, 117; re- 
turns to the East, 138; 
public activity in East, 
132-134; letter to Repre- 
sentative Cushing about 
Oregon, 134; brings back 
a colonizing party, 137-8. 
Leschi, Chief, 217. 
Leslie, Reverend Daniel, 119. 
Lewis, Captain Meriwether, 



leader of Lewis and 
Clark expedition, Chap. 
IV; report on fur trade 
of the West, 62-65. 

Linn, Dr. Lewis F., senator 
from Missouri, Oregon, 
report of, and bill, 131-2; 
presents petition from 
Oregon settlers, 133 ; 
Linn bill passes Senate, 
146. 

Livingston, Robert R., minister 
to France, instructed by 
Jefferson to purchase 
Western Florida and 
New Orleans, 42. 

Lolo Trail, Lewis and Clark 
follow, 58. 

Lovejoy, A. L., companion of 
Whitman on winter ride, 
189. 

Louisiana, conditions in Lower, 
41-42; transfer of Upper 
Louisiana witnessed by 
Captain Lewis, 51. 

Lumbering on Puget Sound, 
advantages for, 209-10 ; 
in Northwest, 270-272 ; 
competition with South, 
273-74- 



Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, ex- 
plores Mackenzie River, 
also a route to the Pa- 
cific, 24-26; his plan to 
consolidate the fur trade 
of North America, 26- 
28; views on the terri- 
torial rights of Great 
Britain in North Amer- 
ica, 28; his mistake in 
supposing " Tacoutchee 



Index 



317 



Tesse " to be Columbia 
River, 27 n. 

Malheur River, 169. 

May Dacre, Wyeth's ship, 112. 

Mayflower Compact, 162-3. 

Mandan, villages, camp of 
Lewis and Clark at, 54-5. 

Manufactures (or Industry), 
commerce and, Chap. 
XIX. 

McCarver, M. M., 163; quoted, 
167. 

McLoughlin, Dr. John, aban- 
dons Fort George, builds 
Fort Vancouver, 80-1 ; 
his management of the 
fur trade of Hudson 
Bay Company, 81-83 ; 
management of livestock 
business, and farming, 
83-4; treatment of rival 
traders at Vancouver, 
case of Jedidiah S. 
Smith, 108 ; missionaries, 
120, 121 ; encourages for- 
mation of cattle com- 
pany, 130; agrees to join 
the Provisional Govern- 
ment, 172. 

M'Dougal, D., P. F. Co. part- 
ner, 76. 

Meares, Captain John, N. W. 
Coast trader, explores 
De Fuca's Strait, 17-18. 

Meek, Joe, first sheriff of Ore- 
gon Provisional Govern- 
ment, 162; carries news 
of Whitman massacre to 
Washington, 194. 
Stephen H. L., misguides the 
emigrants of 1845, 169. 

Michaux, Andre, French bota- 
nist, plans to explore the 



West, Jefferson's instruc- 
tions to, 36-7. 

Missions, in California, 10-11; 
in Middle West, 112-115; 
beginnings of in Oregon, 
Methodists, 116-117 ; 

progress of, 118-119; A. 
B. C. F. M., Oregon mis- 
sions of, 1 19-123; Cath- 
olic missions in N. W., 
124-126. 

Mississippi River, basis of 
prosperity of the West, 
39-41 ; Spaniards close 
the Mississippi, 41-2 ; 
Jefferson's determination 
to open the river, 42 ; 
Lewis and Clark explo- 
ration related on Missis- 
sippi, 43-46. 

Missouri River, Jefferson's 
knowledge of, in 1782, 
31-3 ; route to Pacific by, 
2,6-2,7 \ country of to be 
protected, 45 ; explora- 
tion of, by Lewis and 
Clark, Chap. IV; fur 
trade of, 64, 67, 68, 72; 
Ledyard's plan to ex- 
plore, from Nootka 
Sound, 35-36 and 36 n. 

Missouri, state, starting point 
in Oregon emigration 
movement, 147. 

M'Kenzie, Donald, builds 
Walla Walla Fort, 79. 

Mofros, Duflot de, visits Ore- 
gon, 1841, 138. 

Moluccas, or Spice Islands, 
goal of early maritime 
discoveries, 3, 4. 

Monroe, James, helps to secure 
Louisiana from Napo- 



3i8 



Index 



leon by treaty, 42; safe- 
guards Astoria against 
British claims in 1814, 
88 ; demands restoration 
of Astoria in 1815, 89. 

Monterey Harbour, discovered 
and explored, 7 ; occu- 
pied, 11; base for north- 
ern explorations, n. 

Montreal, Astor secures men 
from, 72. 

M'Tavish, J. G., fur trader, 
brings news of war to 
the Columbia, 76. 

Mullan, Captain John, builds 
the Mullan road, 225. 



Napoleon, secures Louisiana 
from Spain, 39. 

Nelson River, route for fur 
trade to Hudson Bay, 26. 

Nesmith, J. W., with 1843 emi- 
gration, 148; with Vil- 
lard at completion of N. 
P. R. R., 243. 

New Orleans, market for 
trans-Allegheny country, 
40; Jefferson tries to 
buy, 42. 

Nez Perces Indians, send dele- 
gation to St. Louis, 115; 
mission for, 122. 

Nicaragua Lake, discovered, 3 ; 
idea of canal from, 3. 

Nootka, convention, 19; figures 
in Oregon negotiation, 
102-3. 
Sound, discovered by Perez, 
11; rediscovered by 
Cook, 13 ; Indian trade 
begun at, 15 ; Spaniards 
attempt to fortify, 18-19; 



Controversy and Con- 
vention, 19. 

Northwest Company, origin 
and growth of, 24; send« 
Mackenzie to explore 
north and west, 24-26; 
ambitious plans of trade, 
26-8; carries trade across 
Rockies, 65-67; competes 
with Astor Company, 
73-4 ; buys Astoria, 77-8 ; 
unites with Hudson Bay 
Company, 79-80. 

Northwest Passage, British in- 
terest in, 9. 



Ogden, Peter Skeen, Factor of 
Hudson Bay Company, 
saves captives after 
Whitman massacre, 193 
and n. 

Ohio, population in 1800, 40; 
Oregon meetings in, 146. 

Ohio Statesman, source of in- 
formation for Cincinnati 
Convention, 177. 

Okanogan, Fort, built by Astor 
Company, 74-5. 

Olympia, beginnings of, 171 ; 
progress after beginning 
of California gold rush, 
209. 

Ontario, ship, ordered to Co- 
lumbia River, 00. 

Oregon Historical Society, pub- 
lications of cited, 96, 112, 
156, 168-9, 176, 183, 190. 
name, its origin found in 
Carver's Travels, 37-96. 
Provisional Government, 

Chap. XI, 157 ff. 
Question, early phases of, 



Index 



319 



Chap. VII, 88 ff. ; settled, 
Chap. XII, 173 ff. 
State, agitation for state gov- 
ernment, adoption of 
constitution, admission 
into the Union, 218. 
Steam Navigation Company, 
helps to open trade with 
Inland Empire, 223 ; be- 
comes the Oregon Rail- 
way & Navigation Com- 
pany, 242. 
Territory, created by Con- 
gress, 196; proclaimed 
by Governor Lane, 197. 
Trail, converted into Cali- 
fornia Trail, 206. 

Oregonian and Indian's Advo- 
cate, 135-6 and n. 

Oregonian, The Sunday, of 
Portland, reprints. Lee 
and Frost's " The First 
Ten Years of Oregon," 
cited, 117. 

Orient, trade with from Pa- 
cific Northwest, Lewis's 
views of, 63 and n. 



Pacific Fur Company. See As- 
tor and Columbia River 
Fur Trade. 

Palouse, wheat growing area, 
south of Spokane River. 
Described by General 
Stevens, 221. 

Panama Canal, affects agricul- 
tural development of N. 
W., 251, 252; relation to 
N. W. commerce, 274-5 ; 
especially, 289. 

Parker, Dr. Samuel, missionary 
of A. B. C. F. M., ex- 



plores the Oregon coun- 
try as a mission field, 
1 19-20. 

Peace River, ascended by Mac- 
kenzie, 25. 

Pend d'Oreille, Lake, N. W. 
Co. fort at, 74; naviga- 
tion to, 225. 

Perez, Juan, explores north- 
ward from California to 
Alaska, 11. 

Perkins, Rev. H. K. W., mis- 
sionary, 119. 

Pioneer and Democrat, Puget 
Sound newspaper, used 
as source, 212 n. 

Pitman, Miss, missionary, 119. 

Polk, President James K., helps 
settle the Oregon ques- 
tion, 185. 

Portland, new at time of Cali- 
fornia gold rush, 208 ; re- 
lation to Inland Empire 
trade, rapid growth, 226. 

Powder River, mining on, 222. 

Prevost, J. B., receives Astoria 
from British in 1818, 92. 

Prickly Pear River, mining re- 
gion, 222. 

Puget Sound, Fort Nesqually 
and Methodist Mission 
near, 137 ; first settlers 
on, 183 ; posture of af- 
fairs in 1848, 209; lum- 
bering begun, 209-10; 
discovery of coal, 210; 
settlers demand separate 
territorial government, 
211-12; fisheries of, the 
Salmon pack, 276-7; har- 
bours of impress Lieu- 
tenant Wilkes, 284 ; trade 
of, 285, 286. 



320 



Index 



Herald, used as source, 
212 n. 

Quarterly of the Oregon His- 
torical Society, see Ore- 
gon Historical Society 
publications. 

Raccoon, British warship, takes 
Astoria, 78. 

Railways, Age of, Chap. XVII, 
pp. 230-245. 

River of the West, Jefferson 
hears of a " river which 
flows westwardly," 33 ; 
Carver's, 35. 

Rogers, Rev. C, missionary, 
123. 

Rogue River Valley, receives 
settlers, 213, 214. 

Roseburg, Oregon, home of 
General Joseph Lane, 
214 n. 

Ross, Alexander, clerk of P. 
F. Co., his " Fur Hunters 
of the West" quoted, 
75 n. 

Rush, Richard, negotiates with 
Britain on Oregon ques- 
tion, 101 ff. 

Russia, explorations of in 
Alaska, by Bering, 9 ; 
Bering and Tchirikoff, 
10; Russian fur trade be- 
gun, 10 ; treaty with U. S. 
in regard to N. W. coast, 
94, 95 ; Astor's trade 
with, plans, 69; Mr. 
Hunt begins, 77 ; Hudson 
Bay Company trade with, 
85. 

Sacajawea, guides Lewis and 



Clark in Shoshone re- 
gion, 56. 

Sacramento Valley, Sutter's 
Fort in, 199. 

Salem, Oregon, mission near, 
139 and n. 

Salmon River, gold mining on, 
222. 

Sandwich Islands, discovered 
and named by Cook, 13. 

San Diego Harbour, discov- 
ered, 6; fortified, mission 
at, 10-11. 

San Francisco, commercial em- 
porium of Pacific Coast, 
204. 

San Jacinto (Mt. Edgecumbe), 
12, 14. 

San Miguel, Gulf of, 1. 

Santa Fe, trail to from Mis- 
souri, 106. 

Santiago, exploring ship of 
Perez and Heceta, 11. 

Saskatchewan River, 27, 30 n. 

Scribner's Magazine cited, 59 n. 

Sea Otter, importance of, 15, 
16. 

Seattle, has profited most from 
Alaska trade, 286, 289. 

Serra, Father Junipero, founder 
of California missions, 
10, 11. 

Shepard, Cyrus, missionary, 
117, 119 n. 

She Whaps, river and lake, 
trading post for, 76. 

Shively, J. M., Oregon emigra- 
tion agent, 146. 

Shoshone Indians, assist Lewis 
and Clark, 56. 

Siberia, Ledyard's journey to, 
35', 36. 

Sierras, gold found in, 202. 



Index 



321 



Simmons, Michael T., leads 
first party of settlers to 
Puget Sound, 171. 

Simpson, Sir George, visits 
Oregon in 1841, 138 n. 

Slocum, Wm. A., sent to Pa- 
cific coast by President 
Jackson, 128; in Oregon, 
128; connection with 
Willamette Cattle Com- 
pany, 129-30; his report, 
130. 

Smith, A. B., missionary, 123. 
Jedediah, partner of Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company, 
108 ; his explorations, 
108-109. 

Snake River, discovered by 
Clark and named Lewis 
River, 57 and n. 

Society Islands, in. 

South Pass, discovery, and first 
use for wagons, 109; 
Oregon Trail crosses 
Rockies at, 291. 

Spain, her power on the Pa- 
cific, 7 ; general decline 
of after 1588, 7; power 
tested by Anson, 8 ; en- 
deavours to prosecute 
policy of expansion, 10- 
12; clash with British at 
Nootka Sound, 18; aban- 
dons exclusive claim to 
N. W. coast, 19; cedes 
her rights to U. S., 93. 

Spalding, Rev. H. H., joins 
Whitman missionary 

party, 121 ; his account 
of the progress of the 
mission at Lapwai, 
191 

Spectator, New York news- 



paper, used as source, 
190 n. 
Spokane River, trading post on, 

74-75- 
Prairie, described by General 
Stevens, 221. 

Star of Oregon, vessel, built on 
Willamette, 1841, 138. 

Steptoe, James, Jefferson's let- 
ter to, 33. 

Stevens, General Isaac Ingalls, 
appointed governor of 
Washington Territory, 
212 ; account of inland 
country, 221 ; surveys 
northern route for rail- 
way, 237; made treaties 
with Indian tribes, 216- 
17. 

St. James, H. B. Co. Fort, 
82. 

St. Louis, western trade centre, 
105. 

Stockraising, beginnings of in 
N. W., 83 ; advantages 
of Willamette Valley for, 
Slocum's view, 128; Wil- 
lamette Cattle Company, 
128-9; in Inland Empire, 
opportunity for, 220 n. ; 
under open range condi- 
tions, 254; changes in 
ranching business, great 
cattle companies, 255-6 ; 
an obstacle to progress, 
257 ; dairying, 259. 

Strong and Schafer, " Govern- 
ment of the American 
People," cited, 162 n. 

Stuart, David, Pacific Fur 
Company partner, builds 
Fort Okanogan, 75. 
Robert, P. F. Co. partner, 



322 



Index 



sent east with dispatches 
for Mr. Astor, 76 n. 

Sublette, Wm. L., with General 
Ashley, 107 ; partner of 
Rocky Mt. Fur Co., 108; 
pilots Wyeth's party to 
Rockies, 109. 

Sutter, Captain John A., set- 
tles in California, builds 
Sutter's Fort, 199; gold 
discovery near, 202. 

Tacoma, 301. 

Thompson, David, geographer 
of N. W. Co. ; his story 
of early explorations 
through the Rocky Mts., 
30 and n. ; authentic dis- 
coveries, founds trading 
posts, 74; at Astoria, 73. 

Thorn, Captain Jonathan, in 
charge of Tonquin, 70. 

Three Forks of the Missouri, 
Lewis and Clark at, 56. 

Thwaites, Dr. Reuben Gold, 
publishes plan of Fort 
Clatsop, 59 n.; edits 
Lewis and Clark's Jour- 
nals, 61. 

Tonquin, Astor's first ship to 
the Columbia, 70; de- 
struction of, 71. 

Tracy, Reverend Frederick P., 
editor of Oregonian and 
Indian's Advocate, 135. 
Congressman from N. Y., op- 
poses Floyd's Oregon 
Bill, 99-100. 

Tribune, New York, quoted, 
167 n. ; Greeley's edito- 
rial on Whitman, cited, 
184 n. 

Tsimakane, mission, 123 n. 



Tualatin, county of Oregon, 
170 ; academy, 208 n. 

Ulloa, Spanish explorer, 5. 
Umatilla Landing, 223. 
Umpqua, Fort, 82. 
Valley, settlement of, 213, 
214. 
Union Pacific. See Railways. 

Vancouver, Captain George, 
explorations of, 19-21. 
Fort. See Hudson's Bay Co. 

Villard, Henry, interest in Ore- 
gon Railways, 241 ; saves 
the N. P. Railway, or- 
ganizes O. R. & N. Co., 
242 ; " Memoirs " quoted, 
286-7. 

Vizcaino, Spanish explorer, 7. 

Waiilatpu, Whitman's mission. 
See Missions. 

Walker, C. M., with Jason Lee, 
117. 
Reverend Elkanah, with 

Whitman, 123. 
Joseph, leads part of the 
Bonneville party, 109. 

Walla Walla River, fort on, 79 ; 
mission site selected on, 
120; mission on, 121. 
Valley, settlement of, 220, 
223 ; agriculture in, 226. 

Walla Walla, distributing cen- 
tre, 224. 

Waller, Reverend A. F., mis- 
sionary, 137. 

Wallula, 223. 

Washington Territory, part of 
Old Oregon, separation 
from in 1853, 212; Gen- 
eral Stevens governor, 



Index 



323 



213 ; gold in. See Min- 
ing and Inland Empire. 
State, development of agri- 
culture, 251, 252, 258; 
farm land values in, 262 ; 
lumber production of, 
272 ; fisheries of, 277 ; 
exports and imports, 286 ; 
cities of, 301. 
Webster, Daniel, concludes 
treaty with Ashburton, 

174-175- 

White, Dr. Elijah, Indian sub- 
agent, raises emigrating 
party for Oregon, 140. 

Whitman, Dr. Marcus, with Dr. 
Parker, 119; brings mis- 
sion party to Oregon, 
121 ; founds interior mis- 
sions, 121-124; famous 
ride, 189; in the East, 
190 ; return, difficulties of 
his situation, 191 ; the 
massacre of Whitman, 
his wife, and twelve oth- 
ers, 192. 

Whitman Question, statement 
on, 185 n. 

Whitney, Asa, his railroad 
project, 231, 235. 

Wilkes, Lieutenant Charles, in 
Oregon, 138; views of 



l 



commercial development 
of the Oregon and Cali- 
fornia countries, 284. 
George, plan for a national 
railroad to the Pacific, 

234-35- 

Wilson, W. H., missionary, 119. 

Wood, T. B., quoted, 167. 

Wyeth, Nathaniel J., trading 
project, no; first jour- 
ney to Oregon, in; sec- 
ond expedition and fail- 
ure, 111-112; journals 
and letters, 112 n. 



Yakima Valley, fruit growing 
area, 264. 

Yamhill County, 170. 

Yoncalla, founded by Jesse 
Applegate, 214 n. 

York, Captain Clark's negro, 
Si- 

York Factory, on Hudson Bay, 
80. 

Young, Ewing, organizes Cat- 
tle Company, 129; sketch 
of career, 129 n. ; effect 
of his death, 158. 

Young, Professor Frederic G., 
editor of Wyeth's jour- 
nals and letters, 112 n. 



f-p 1 ' 



Printed in the United States of Amerioa. 



"HE following pages contain advertisements of a few of the 
Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 



Mount Rainier: 

A RECORD OF EXPLORATION 

Edited by EDMOND S. MEANY, 

Professor of History in the University of Washington, Piesident 

of the Mountaineers, Author of Vancouver's Discovery of 

Puget Sound, History of the State of Washington, Etc. 

Cloth, 8vo, III., $2.50 

Mount Rainier National Park is visited annually by increas- 
ing thousands of tourists. Many of them seek information about 
the discovery and exploration of the mountain and its environs. 
Much of the information sought has never been published. The 
annals of discovery and exploration, which have been published, 
have often appeared in books, pamphlets and periodicals not 
easily accessible. Mount Rainier: A Record of Exploration, ed- 
ited by Edmund S. Meany, will be welcomed by many people. It 
is the purpose of this work to gather the essential portions of the 
desired information within a compact, usable form. 

Beginning with Captain George Vancouver's account of the 
discovery and naming of the mountain in 1792, the records are 
continued to the present time. Dr. William F. Tolmie, a med- 
ical officer in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, writes of 
the first approach to the mountain in 1833. Lieutenant Robert 
E. Johnson of the United States Navy describes the first re- 
corded trip through Naches Pass in 1841. Theodore Winthrop, 
a descendant of the famous Governor John Winthrop of Massa- 
chusetts, tells of Tacoma and the Indian Legend of Hamitchou. 
Lieutenant Kautz of the United States Army describes the first 
attempted ascent in 1857, General Stevens the first successful as- 
cent in 1870. McClure's achievement and tragic death in 1897 
are reviewed by Herbert L. Bruce and Professor H. H. McAllis- 
ter. An Indian Warning against Demons by an Indian guide is 
reprinted and there are chapters on the glaciers, the rocks and 
the flora of the mountain. The volume is attractively illustrated. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



The Salton Sea 



AN ACCOUNT OF HARRIMAN'S FIGHT WITH 
THE COLORADO RIVER 

By GEORGE KEN NAN 

With Illustrations and Maps, Cloth, i2tno, $1.00 

A dramatic story of the mad pranks of a mighty run- 
away river, and of the series of battles through which it 
was harnessed and subdued. 

" No series of events in the history of southern California is 
more interesting, or more dramatic, than the creation of the 
beautiful and fertile oasis of the Imperial Valley in the arid 
desert-basin of the Salton Sink ; the partial transformation of 
this cultivated valley into a great inland sea by the furious inpour 
of a runaway river; the barring out of the flood by the courage 
and energy of a single man, and the final development of the 
valley into one of the richest agricultural areas in the world." 

When the Colorado River broke from its bounds a blind cosmic 
force seemed to be loosed, bent only on destruction. Where 
once was naught but sunbaked desert a vast island sea was cre- 
ated, now viewed each year by thousands of passengers on the 
Southern Pacific. Mr. Kennan tells the story of the runaway 
Colorado and the Salton Sea, simply but with compelling power. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



Alaska: the Great Country 

By ELLA HIGGINSON 

New edition with new matter concerning the railroads, 
government, mining, fishing, merchant shipping, and re- 
cent agricultural development. 

Abundantly illustrated, Cloth, 8vo, $2.50 

"Alaska is a notable contribution to the history and literature 
of Alaska. . . . The book is one of absorbing interest." — 
Bellingham Reveille. 

" Mrs. Higginson's Alaska appeals by its sparkling wit, wealth 
of description, a lively interest that never flags, and bright his- 
torical pictures." — Oregonian. 

" If you are the least bit interested in Alaska, Mrs. Higginson's 
splendid book will delight you." — Portland Telegram. 

" Despite the fact that Mrs. Higginson disclaims having found 
the secret of putting the spell of Alaska into words, the reader 
who does not wish to become a convert to her faith, should be- 
ware of this book. . . . It is a fascinating volume." — Bos- 
ton Herald. 

"If Alaska, the country, is half as interesting as is Alaska, the 
book, then it is certainly fascinating beyond words. It is a guide- 
book, a book of travel, a history, and a romance, all in one. We 
can understand how it happens that a group of travellers new 
to this country should set out with no other guide than this book. 
They can need no other, and cannot find a better one. The 
author has made a point of seeing everything, in spite of all diffi- 
culties and obstacles, and then she has the faculty of telling what 
she sees. ... In many instances the view or incident flashes 
out clear and real in one word. To read it is to become in- 
fected with the Alaska fever." — Passaic News. 

" Vivid with poetic imagery, full of the richest encomium, and 
sparkling with ready wit." — St. Paul Pioneer Press. 

" Ella Higginson's Alaska: The Great Country, deserves its 
title. It is written with fair proportion of accurate history, of 
interesting information, and the clear observation of a feminine 
traveler gifted with both shrewdness and imagination, combined 
with artistic skill. Mrs. Higginson's book forms not only a 
notable contribution to the literature of the year, but a most 
valuable addition to the rapidly growing Alaskan bibliogaphy. . 
. . Mrs. Higginson has done for Alaska what W. D. Howells 
has done for the highways and by-ways of Europe." — Post-In- 
telligencer, Seattle. 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64r-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



A Political and Social 
History of Modern Europe 

By CARLTON J. H. HAYES 

Associate Professor of History, in Columbia University 

Vol. I. 1300-1815, 582 pages, 8vo, $2.00 
Vol. II. 1815-1915, 767 pages, 8vo, $2.25 

This thoroughly up-to-date text for college courses in general 
European history supplies the need for a more detailed treatment 
than that used in high schools and one that lends itself readily to 
supplementation by outside readings. 

The sixteenth century is taken as the starting point, with the 
commercial revolution and the rise of the powerful bourgeoisie 
furnishing the central theme. From this point the emphasis con- 
stantly increases towards the present day, with particular atten- 
tion to the growth of the conflicting forces which culminated in 
the European war. 

While political activities are fully treated, the author realizes 
that these are determined largely by social and economic needs 
and ambitions, and has therefore synthesized these various ele- 
ments in a broad treatment of the life of the times. Accord- 
ingly, chapters are incorporated at intervals on such topics as So- 
ciety in the Eighteenth Century, the Industrial Revolution and 
Social Factors, 1870-1914, while throughout economic and social 
aspects of political events are kept in mind. 

While the narrative is sufficiently full to lessen the need of ad- 
ditional reading, the ample critical bibliographies and footnote 
references make supplementation easy for the instructor, while 
the arrangement of material enables him to omit or substitute in 
adapting the text to courses of varying length. The two vol- 
umes are therefore admirably suited for the beginning course in 
European history — supplemented when desirable by a book on 
medieval period. The second volume, moreover, covering the 
period from 18 15 through the outbreak of the Great War, offers 
the most complete and up-to-date text now available for ad- 
vanced courses on nineteenth century Europe. 

The author has brought to his work a brilliance of style and a 
clearness of presentation that, added to the mechanical excellence 
of large type, wide margins, and paragraph headings, make this 
an outstanding publication in the textbook field. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



The Danish West Indies 

By WALDEMAR WESTERGAARD 

Cloth, illustrated, l2tno., $2.50 

A book which is intended to supply all the informa- 
tion that Americans will now wish to have about the 
Danish West Indies. It covers the administration of 
the Danish "West India and Guinea Company from 1671- 
1754 and traces the history of the islands from 1754 to 
modern times. Throughout economic matters are em- 
phasized though the more picturesque elements in that 
history are not omitted, such as the exploitation of buc- 
caneers and pirates, even the Kidd himself. The work 
is based on extended research in Danish archives and 
will be found of value by the general reader and student. 
It is prefaced with an introduction by H. Morse Stephens 
of the University of California and is illustrated with 
maps and photographs, several hitherto unpublished. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



it li liih II Hi III iii ii 
017 137 060 7 



I 



